


The Brightest Day and Darkest Night

by WhiteWitchDark



Series: Shadows in Sunshine [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Gray Jedi Kylo Ren, Gray Jedi Rey (Star Wars), The Force Ships It (Star Wars), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28900812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteWitchDark/pseuds/WhiteWitchDark
Summary: The Resistance Base on D'Qar has been compromised and the remaining rebels, led by Leia Organa, rush to escape.  Meanwhile a conversation with Obi Wan Kenobi convinces Luke Skywalker to end his exile and go in search of an ancient secret.Rey continues to fight her way into the ranks of the Knights of Ren with Kylo by her side as they attempt to pre-empt the hidden Emperor and find a wayfinder with the suspect Knights by their sides.And faced with the chance to reconnect with his son, Han Solo risks everything to fix the mistakes of the past.The Force always balances and no amount of foreknowledge can change that which must be.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo, Poe Dameron & Leia Organa, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Shadows in Sunshine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100369
Comments: 19
Kudos: 47





	1. Fixing Up the Falcon, the Cloud and maybe Some Broken Hearts

###  Chewbacca

Lamira was small, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and people passing through were either trying to avoid being noticed or trying to stick to places no one would care who they were. Ben… Kylo was solidly at the ‘no one would care’ end of the spectrum. At his height, without using the Force, there was no way he would be overlooked. Chewie sat on _the Falcon’s_ ramp and watched as Rey haggled with a gran junk dealer. Ben stood two steps behind her, playing the role of bodyguard by glaring at anyone who came too close. The gran was clearly keeping one of his three eyes on the massive human.

Black boots, black pants, black flight jacket, black long-sleeved shirt underneath it. Black utility belt slung across his chest. Black hair. His eyes were dark enough to be black unless the light caught them right. Black, black, black. The colour, or lack thereof, made Ben look even bigger than he was, although Chewie conceded, that could be the Force as well. Ben was _big_ and clearly knew his way around a fight. He made Rey and Han look small even though he knew Rey was tall for a human female and Han was average for a human male. Last time he saw Ben at Luke’s, the boy had only been to Han’s shoulder.

Chewie vaguely remembered Han picking out the utility belt currently slung across Ben’s chest, dithering about smuggler black or Jedi brown. He remembered the conversation about what type of blaster should go into the holster more clearly and they had eventually settled on a Flash 4, like the one Han had got Leia, not the DeathHammer, Kylo was sporting. He remembered doubting Luke would let Ben keep it, but not having the heart to tell Han. Ben had altered the belt to hold his lightsaber on his back, his hair hiding the top of the hilt. He had only slung the jacket on as he stepped off _the Cloud’s_ ramp and Chewie had got a good view of it. 

It had a cross-guard.

Chewie remembered the flash of red and the scream that followed it, remembered the metallic clank as the arm cannon and the arm it had been mounted on hit the metal deck of Starkiller, cut clean through by a lightsaber blade. He remembered the saber hitting the side of the silo and spinning off into the depths of the exploding base. He remembered the look of loss on Kylo’s face before he jumped from the bridge and landed between them and his former Knight. He remembered the story Kylo had told them, about how originally it had been _Han_ who fell. He hadn’t been holding his bowcaster when he heard that story. It was probably for the best.

Rey had finished talking to the dealer and was shaking his hand. The gran strode off, the two lightsaber-armed humans following him. The hilt of Kylo’s saber was barely visible over his shoulder. Most people would assume it was a vibroknife or something like it, much like they would think _stun_ _baton_ if they saw Ray’s staff across the small of her back, mostly covered by her jacket. The weapons weren’t _hidden_ as such, just not as obvious as the blasters they both wore or identifiable as Jedi weapons. Watching them, Chewie didn’t think they needed much help of the scoundrel training type.

With a sigh, he hauled himself up and retreated into _the Falcon_ to start tearing apart the air con unit before Rey and Ben came back with the replacement. He found Han with his head in the environmental control console. A soft huff let the human know he was there, and he quickly wriggled his way out to look up at him.

“They get it?”

A yowl and a growl.

“Well, I hope they did. We’re not going anywhere until we get this fixed.” 

Chewie growled in agreement and picked up the wrench, opening the next panel. They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they worked, conversation limited to asked for tools.

Forty years together meant Han didn’t have to say anything, Chewie knew. But he still waited for the words, “Should I have taken him?”

Chewie shrugged and hummed he didn’t know.

“Sometimes I think I should have argued more. Maybe Leia would have told me about Snoke.”

Chewie’s moan made it clear he doubted Leia would have told Han anything she didn’t have to.

“Yeah, maybe. Luke said he was good at… emotional manipulation.” Han looked his hands, “Do you think Leia…”

Chewie heaved out a sigh and dropped to sit beside Han, trying to find a way to say it. In the end, he just growled softly as he explained his thoughts, that Leia had been a politician, first and foremost, a Force sensitive politician and he had no idea how much of what they had all felt around her was real.

Han looked at him in surprise, “You think…”

He shook his head hard, growling a negative, not deliberately but… he remembered how Ben had affected everyone’s emotions as a baby and… The growl trailed off. 

“Yeah” Han sighed, and they went back to work.

Eventually, the old aircon unit was on the loading ramp and the space it had once fitted into had been emptied, cleaned and was now waiting for the replacement. Han leaned against the old unit and nodded towards where _the Silver Cloud_ was parked, “Have you been inside?”

Chewie shook his head.

“Come on then. Let’s see what they’ve got.” 

Chewie hesitated for a moment before curiosity won out and he followed.

The ramp was up, but Rey had told them the code before she went to chat to the dealers. Some of the stuff they had bought would likely be delivered before they got back, and they didn’t want it left outside. Chewie could understand that. He could also understand Ben not wanting to be there when Han finally got to check out _the Cloud_. Either way, the two deliveries were in _the Falcon,_ so he snagged them on the way out.

It was a newer model then the Falcon. The lines inside were sleeker. Everything was just that little bit nicer and better designed. The ramp dropped them into a circular corridor reminiscent of _the Falcon._ The door to the right led them into the living area with a galley kitchen in one corner and some seating on the other. Having looked up the specs after Starkiller, wanting to know what Ben was flying, Chewie could tell a bedroom had been ripped out to make the kitchen. He reckoned it had been done by the previous owners. Han wasn’t the best cook. Neither Luke nor Leia had been much for it either, so he was confident it wouldn’t be Ben’s thing and Rey had grown up eating nutrient portions so… Chewie nodded to himself as he got closer, it looked unused. 

He continued looking around. Mostly empty glass cabinets on the wall held a dozen books and a handful of small shiny stones in a clear plastic box. Something about the stones, crystals maybe, caught Chewie’s attention and he stopped to look at them while Han moved over to the table.

“Leia always hated that” Han reminisced, pulling his attention from what he was now sure where kyber crystals. Chewie growled a question.

“Me working on something at the ‘dining’ table.” Han explained, pointed to the pile of wires and bits of metal beside a solder. 

Down the right-hand corridor was another door, and then the cockpit. Han headed towards the door. According to the specs, that was the captain’s quarters. Chewie followed. The bed was big enough for a Wookiee. Ben and Rey had obviously put some thought into this room. The smell of paint still lingered near the dove grey wall panels. The bedspread and pillows were a dark green and a forest green carpet covered the floor. Han hit the panel that hid the wardrobe and it slid open silently. Inside was… 95% black. Chewie looked over his shoulder to check. A handful of dresses in bright colours. Two shirts, one in a pale blue and the other, white. Everything else was black. Han reached out a hand, touching the set of Kylo Ren’s armoured clothing. It was beside the armour Rey wore as Paska Ren.

Chewie whacked Han over the back of the head and closed the door. The door beside it turned out to be a refresher. “Least we know what’s between them.” Han asked, “Captain’s quarters and first mates, knocked through?”

Chewie roared agreement.

“Them or the previous owners?”

He shrugged. He would bet on Rey and Ben if he had to choose.

“Kitchen moved to the living area?”

He growled this time, that was pre-Ben and Rey.

Han nodded slowly, “You’re probably right.” 

They made their way around the ring; the cargo holds and secure storage where they were meant to be. Han skipped the galley since they knew that had changed, but Chewie leant against the door while Han finished exploring Engineering and the passenger bedrooms, the last of which was now another cargo hold. They stepped into the converted galley together. The first section had been turned into a refresher. Chewie watched Han lick his lips as he palmed the next door.

“Kriff…” Han breathed out, “Is this another cargo bay?”

Chewie howled in disagreement. The room was easily double the size it should have been, the wall moved further into the main hold beside it. It _could_ have been a cargo bay, except one wall was covered in mirrors and there were cushions piled in a corner and the floor was covered in... Chewie pressed his toe against the surface, and it sank in slightly, matting apparently. They stepped inside, looking around. The wall to one side had a recess halfway along and when they looked, they found a rack of weapons. 

“Training sabers?” Han asked quietly, he hadn’t missed Kylo’s replacement either, “A training room?”

Chewie’s roar of agreement was quiet, contemplative. Lightsabers probably took more practice than blasters. It definitely _looked_ like there was more involved in it. The location behind the refresher made sense to a Wookiee. Humans smelt bad at the best of times and he could taste the sour tang of sweat in the air and had the faint smell of blood in his nose, not to mention the spicy scent of human arousal. Ben and Rey obviously ended their fights a different way then storming halfway across the galaxy. They probably liked to clean up before they went back to the main living areas.

He turned around as Han took one of the sabers down from the wall. The door slid open.

Ben took a step inside, keeping them both in view as he looked around, “Exploring? You could have asked for a tour. Rey is putting the aircon unit in now.”

Han shrugged, trying for nonchalance. Ben quirked an eyebrow and Chewie hesitated, wondering how much Ben could read in the Force.

“Enough” he looked around, “We wanted space to train, and spar, and if we actually want to move cargo, then we couldn’t appropriate the entire cargo bay.”

He stepped over and pulled another blade from the wall, spinning it around a couple of times with casual ease. He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the weapons rack. Then Ben moved in front of Han, “Hold it like this. You’ll break your wrist if you block like that.”

Han changed his grip.

“Rings of Defence. Inner ring.” Holding the blade loosely in is hand, Ben spun a slow circle, “Anywhere you can reach with the blade without extending it further. You only defend the inner ring. If someone else’s weapon is in it, you’re already in trouble.” 

He held his arm out straight and moved one foot forward, “Middle ring. Where you will do most of your fighting, both offence and defence. The outer ring extends to your full reach, moving the other foot. Sneak attacks or lunges where you have into move into your opponent’s space. That’s what Luke taught.”

Ben swung his blade up slowly, giving Han plenty of time to see what he was doing and copy it. Chewie watched. It was clear Ben was moving though some kind of prescribed set of movements, each one leading cleanly into the next. It didn’t take Han long to get the feel of it even if he had none of his son’s grace. At the end, Ben turned, grinned at him and began the same set of movements again, this time at Han, who blocked each one. Ben never changed his speed and Chewie didn’t think he was putting much power behind the strokes, but it was interesting to watch.

“Form One.”

Han smirked as he stood up straight, “Huh, thought only Jedi were allowed learn this stuff.”

“I’m hardly a Jedi.”

“Guess not. What are you then?”

Ben shrugged as he put the training saber back and picked up his jacket.

“Leia wanted a golden prince to resurrect the Organa line and Alderaan. Luke wanted a perfect Lightside Jedi, a scion of the Skywalker blood to fix Darth Vader’s mistake. You wanted a… clone of yourself? Or a more sucessful version anyway. Snoke wanted a weapon against Luke. Palaptine wants host or Vader mark 2. I’m none of those, so, I guess, I’m just a person.”

Then he turned and left the room.

Chewie watched Han absently rub his lips and gave a tired moan.

“Yeah Chewie, I hear you.”

Chewie moaned again.

“Yeah, I get it, we fucked him up.”

Another moan.

“Yeah, them too.”


	2. Hiding from the Light

###  Leia Organa

Stepping out of the shuttle onto the deck of the _Ninka_ was like stepping into another world, Leia mused to herself, with a smile. It felt good to have a ship beneath her feet again, just like it would feel good to step back onto a planet. Change, moving forward, it made her feel alive.

“General Leia, it is good to see you again!” C-3PO waddled towards her. A small smile tugged the corners of her mouth. She had missed the neurotic droid, but C-3PO held to many Resistance secrets to risk in the evacuation. Now, with Ackbar back in command of _the Raddus_ heading in one direction and Amilyn and the _Ninka_ heading in the other, she was comfortable reuniting with her long-time servant and companion as she responded, “You too, 3PO. Where’s your partner in crime?”

“R2-D2 is currently in engineering. He considered joining General Solo but changed his mind.” 3PO tilted his head to the side, “Unfortunately, I believe he has come choice words for Master Luke and wants an audience when he says them.”

“Luke probably deserves it.” Leia sighed, watching Poe drop from his x-wing and jog over to them, “Still I hope they’re successful. We could really use his help. I miss him.”

“Do you think he will return?” the golden droid asked, “Because I calculate the odds to be…”

Leia stopped listening, instead turning her gaze out the hanger door, into space, a frown marring her forehead and cold shivered down her back. The Force…

Time stood still.

She had a moment to understand what she was seeing – Blocking out the stars, a massive ship slid into real space beside them. Her eyes widened.

_The Supremacy!_

Time sped up

Poe reeled back, turning to run for his X wing

Light began to build in the cannon on the ship’s belly

She hauled Poe back with the Force and grabbed C-3PO, pulling even more power as she desperately threw herself and her precious cargo towards the hanger door

 _The Supremacy_ fired

BOOM

She felt the heat against her back

THUMP

They crashed into the corridor wall

SLAM

The blast doors shut.

And Leia _breathed_.

“Oh my, Oh Oh…” C-3PO babbled as the alarms started and a much beloved woman’s voice came over the tannoy, calling everyone to battle stations.

Poe looked at her in shock, and she threw him a wane smile, “I’m Luke Skywalker’s sister and Kylo Ren’s mother. Did you think I couldn’t?”

“I…” Poe shook his head, “I never really thought about it.”

“Think about it later, Poe. We need to get to the bridge.”

Standing tall in the centre of organised chaos, Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo stared as the ship ahead of her, her face expressionless. The _Supremacy_ was huge, much larger then was sensible and it blotted out the entire view before them. Stopping beside her long-time friend, Leia quipped, “Always with the big ships. Sometimes I have to ask myself what they’re compensating for.”

Two of the nearby crew spluttered in surprise. A smile tilted Holdo’s lips, but before she could respond a crewman yelled, “We’re ready to jump, Ma’am.”

“Hyperspeed, now!” Holdo snapped immediately, then turned to face Leia, “If Kylo Ren was telling the truth, they can track us.”

Leia nodded, “As much as I want him to be wrong about this… Ben was never one to lie if he could avoid it.”

“Where are we going?”

“The Rim, but its a delaying tactic, Leia. We can’t outrun that thing.”

“We’ll do what we must. The other ships?”

“Have been checking in. They all got away.”

“Good” Leia nodded. Poe shifted uncomfortably beside her, and she was reminded of Han before he suggested something crazy. Pain, old pain, stabbed through her. She could use some of Han’s luck and recklessness right now.

“We could try hyperspace skipping.” Poe suggested, his eyes lighting up.

Holdo snorted, “You give yourself to much credit, Commander, if you think you can ‘skip the _Ninka_.”

“I can fly anything ever built, lady!” he snapped back, wounded pride making him defensive.

“Please!” Leia said, holding up a hand, “Commander Poe Dameron, meet Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo in person. Amilyn, this is Black Leader, Commander Poe Dameron. The one who brought the message from Kylo Ren.”

“Holdo? As in the battle of Chryon Belt, Holdo?” Poe stammered, finally making the connection. In his defence, he had been a bit off foot the first time they met and it had been a holo, so Leia was charitable about it.

Holdo nodded regally.

“Huh, you’re not what I was expecting.”

“And you Commander, are _exactly_ what I expected. The general always had a weakness for hot shot fly-boys.”

“I’m right here.” Leia said dryly.

Holdo raised an elegant eyebrow, “C-3P0, please calculate how many of General Organa’s cl…”

“Belay that, 3PO.” She glared up at the taller, woman.

“Ah… eh… yes, General.”

“How long will we be in hyperspace?” she said instead, sighing.

“Four hours” Holdo shrugged, “Then we’ll have to drop out to adjust our navigation.”

“Well Commander, it appears you have four hours to figure out how to lightspeed skip the _Ninka_ and Admiral, you have 4 hours to come up with an alternative. Come on 3PO.” She left the room.

Privately she admitted Amilyn was likely right. Han had claimed to have ‘skipped the _Falcon_ on a couple of occasions and even he had been unwilling to ‘skip the _Tantive IV_ which had been less than half the _Ninka’s_ size.

###  Luke Skywalker

The waves crashed into the base of the cliff, a hundred metres below. The wind danced and sang along and around the cliff face. Eternity stretched out around the island.

Luke stared at the lightsaber in his hands, as if unable to contemplate it’s reappearance. Gina and Finn shared a look before Gina spoke, “Master Skywalker? I’ve… we’ve always been different, always known things we shouldn’t. We have this power and General Organa told us it is the Force and that you can teach us. She, your sister, sent us to bring you back to the Resistance.”

Luke’s eyes flicked up to her, anger marring his features, before it was gone, then his causally tossed the lightsaber over his shoulder and stomped off towards the temple. “No” he yelled back over his shoulder.

Finn and Gina shared a look, eyes wide in surprise before Gina scrambled after the lightsaber and Finn came after him. The man was obviously hurt and confused. He wondered what stories Leia has been spinning about him. 

Finn caught up with him quickly, “Why not?”

“The Jedi’s time is over.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said, kid. Pick a hut, you can stay there until the _Falcon_ comes back and then you will _leave.”_ He waved the young man off and stomped up towards the Temple to join Obi-Wan.

The Force Ghost appeared as he entered the main chamber, “I’ve felt the pull of this place since I first appeared here.”

Luke grunted in response and walked to the centre of the room, looking down the Prime Jedi in the reflecting pool, then up. The image drawn on the ceiling above was simple, and not like the rest of the decorations. It was older. He had felt it in the stones, when he first arrived and found this room, it was the oldest point in the Temple, older even then the Prime Jedi in the pool.

Obi Wan stood beside him and followed his gaze upwards.

“It’s safe to say, I’ve never encountered _that_ before.” He quipped.

The carving was crude. Two groups of people outlined in grey surround a couple at the centre. Half the figures in the groups were surrounded by a solid line, the other half by dots. Force sensitives? Non-Force Sensitives? Of the two in the middle, one half of the carving was filled with white and the other black, their arms fading to grey before their hands touch. A dyad? It was a blatantly obvious representation of one if it was. Who knew?

Luke stretched up his hand and pointed to the figures surrounded by solid lines, “Force sensitives.” He pointed to the others, surrounded by dots, “Non force sensitives. I think, anyway.”

“The two in the middle, surrounded by only one Force line could be a Dyad. This is the oldest place in the temple.”

Luke was silent then, letting, Obi Wan stare at the image a little longer. Watching his old master, he saw the moment realisation struck, this wasn’t the oldest part _of_ the temple. The Temple had been _built_ around the image. An image that reflected, exactly opposite, the Prime Jedi in the pristine pool.

Obi Wan swept a ghost tongue over ghost lips, “What does this mean?”

Luke shrugged again, looking around, now that he thought of it, there was something else that Obi Wan would probably be interested in. Where was it again… “Take a look at this.”

He led his old master out towards the doorway, turning to face the pool and pointed to another carving above the lintel. It was in the same style as the first one, simple straight lines crossing at the centre to form a star, the top half white and the bottom black. Between the lines, the colour faded as it moved around the diagram, blending them together. There were six more lines bisecting it, each of the lines ending in a rune. Obi Wan took one look at it and said simply, “It’s wrong.”

“I know.” Luke looked at it. “I can’t read the runes, but they aren’t the ones the Jedi used. And the Light Dark split is wrong.” 

He put his hands on his hips, “But I think the same artist is responsible.”

“What?”

Luke waved to the Dyad iconography, “I think it was the same artist. They felt… feel the same.”

“I’m dead. I can’t feel anything, but this is important. I think we need to know what those runes are.”

Luke looked at him sceptically.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave the island.” Obi Wan grinned at him, “I hear Kijimi is lovely this time of year.”

“Kijimi?”

“Yes, Kijimi, and the Dai Bandu Temple.”

Luke crossed his arms and glared at him.

“You should take the twins of course, for company.”

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

Obi-Wan rubbed his chin and sighed, “I think Ben and Rey might be a Dyad.”

“Sith?”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’re missing something, I know it.” Obi Wan sighed, “I don’t like the tone of the other Force bound masters, Luke. It too… subjective. They’re blaming Ben and Rey for things that haven’t happened yet, as if the future is set in stone. That is not the Jedi way.”

Luke frowned, staring at Obi Wan, “The Jedi have always acted on what the Force reveals. Isn’t it the same thing?”

Obi Wan shook his head, “It _shouldn’t_ be, but that it how it ended.”

Half an hour later, Luke stomping up to the door of the hut the twins had claimed and banged on the door. Gina opened it, yawning.

“Training. Tomorrow at dawn. When the _Falcon_ comes back, we’re going to Kijimi. I’ll continue to train you till then. After that, you’re on your own.”

“Yes, Master Skywalker!” Gina yelped, coming to attention.

“And don’t do that.” Luke snapped, “You’re a Jedi Padawan now, not a First Order Stormtrooper.”

Gina nodded her head frantically.

Luke rolled his eyes and stormed off the way he had come.

The temple was empty when he returned. He hadn’t expected Obi Wan to have remained. Taking a seat on what he had come to think of as the meditation stone, he closed his eyes and, for the first time in over six years, reached out with his feelings, finding the space between life and death, between chaos and order. The Force rushed in, and across the stars, he felt her, her name was a benediction on his tongue.

“Leia”

And he heard her answer, hope, joy, yearning in her tone, “Luke!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I think I might be one of the few people who were not offended by Luke in TLJ. He always struck me as very fragile at the end of ROTJ and I can see his mental state continuing to deteriorate. I can also see him going after Ben without any urgings from Snoke.
> 
> I know it probably reads a little like I'm gunning for Leia at the moment. Stop and think about this for a moment - Rey was literally abandoned by her parents on Jakku. They might have done it to keep her safe, but that doesn't change the result and Ben Solo knew the same level of loneliness. Leia and Han might not have literally dropped him off on a dustball at 5 years of age, but they were clearly never there


	3. Running From the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I love TLJ. It's one of my favourite Star Wars films, but damn the timeframe makes absolutely no sense

###  Kylo Ren/Ben solo

It was harder than expected to separate from Han and Chewie and watch _the Falcon_ disappear out of the atmosphere as he remembered it doing so often in his childhood. Rey held his hand as they stood on the _Cloud’s_ loading ramp, not saying anything. He had no idea what to say and she… She didn’t need to say anything; he could feel the tension and the half-remembered pain in her. His bad memories weren’t the only ones the sight of the ship leaving brought back. 

Han had been… different to how he remembered the old man, more open, friendlier and a lot less defensive. Maybe it was because they were both adults, so he could see more of the nuances of his father’s choices. Maybe it was his willingness to forgive. Maybe it was the lack of Leia’s orders, and her idiotic ideas of home and family overshadowing the conversation. Or maybe it was that Han seemed to know what he had done and was trying to make amends. It wasn’t a one-way street like it had been on Starkiller all those years ago. It wasn’t an ultimatum, or an order and Han wasn’t asking him to be someone he wasn’t. Instead, he had talked of plans to take Ben with him when he hit his teenage years, of showing him the galaxy, of building the relationship Ben had wanted and never got. He said he still wanted to try.

Ben wasn’t sure what to think of that.

He was sure he _wanted_ it.

Rey squeezed his hand once and let go, turning to make her way to the cockpit and the distractions their preparations to leave provided her. Kylo knew she was right though, they weren’t close to Kef Bir, so they needed to get moving. He gazed after the _Falcon_ for a moment longer, before following her in and taking the co-pilot’s seat. They hadn’t travelled far enough back to save her parents and it ate at her. It was a feeling he knew well, but he didn’t know how to help either. Reaching over, he squeezed her shoulder and watched as she dropped her chin to her chest. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s really not.” He said softly.

“My father… he must have been force sensitive. Why…” she swallowed.

“I don’t know. Maybe he never got the training to?”

“Yeah”

He watched her straighten her shoulders and turn her attention to the controls, although in her emotional state, she had lost a lot of her usual grace with technology. Her hit-it-till-it-works method was more his style then her usual delicate motions. Kylo knew better than to smile, instead taking the co-pilot’s seat and setting the navi computer to work… which was taking it’s sweet time. He glared at his, catching Rey smirking out of the corner of his eye. He raised an eyebrow at her in question.

“Present from Han and Chewie, a complete copy of the _Falcon’s_ charts. The computer probably hasn’t finished integrated them yet.”

Kylo gave a low whistle, L3’s charts were some of the most complete in existence, “That was nice of them.”

“I think Han really wants you to follow in his footsteps.”

He shrugged in response, “Beats serving Snoke and Palpatine.”

Rey punched another button and hauled the stick back, sending them up into the air. Neither said anything as the navi computer finally gave them the route and he entered it with quick, confidant movements. Rey flicked another button, pushed the stick forward and the stars around them spun out as they entered hyperspace. 

She stood up abruptly, “I’m going to keep working on the refresher at the training room. I want to get those pipes fixed before we get there.”

“Okay, I got this.” He nodded to her and moved to take the pilots seat, “If I make caf, do you want some?”

“Please”

Rey headed back, leaving him staring out at hyperspace and contemplating the future. He pulled his attention back to the moment and checked the outputs. The ship didn’t need watching the entire time, just someone in earshot of the alarms, but Ben and Rey both had a pilot’s inborn need to be at the controls. Or know someone they trusted was which meant unless something else needed doing, one or both would be there. He spun his chair around, eyeing the space. If they pulled out the third crew chair, they might be able to fit a small sofa and a table in here. Something else to put on the list for after they upgraded the hyperdrive, weapons and shielding. The charts were a nice surprise though.

Standing up, he stretched until his back popped and set the autopilot. Leaving the cockpit for the galley, he made the caf. 

Ray was in a better mood when he delivered it which meant he was able to coax her into a sparring match, which lead to other things, which resulted in Ben on his back on the mats, with Rey grinding herself down onto him, their clothing scattered around the room.

Sweat dripped down between her breasts and her eyes were wide and bright. He held her down with a steel grip on her hips, letting the sensations flow from him to her and hearing her moan. She picked up her pace, grinning evilly as she began to tighten and relax the muscles inside her. Ben clenched hard, his stomach muscles tightening till he hunched over, a strangled groan coming from him, “Fuck… Rey. I won’t…”

Rey slid a hand between them, flicking her clit in time with her movement, feeling them spiralling towards completion. The Force roared around them, through them, blurring the lines till they were bleeding into each other. Ben came with a shout, pulling her down tighter against him as she spasmed, a gasp falling from her lips.

She flopped down onto his chest and he flinched at the over-stimulation even as his arms came up to hold her. “We should do that more often.” He said lazily, dropping a kiss onto her hair.

He could feel her smirk in the Force, their minds not quite separated yet and then…

The faintest brush of the Force against them. The lightest touch of a barely remembered Force signature that felt like the wet sand at the edge of the ocean, hard, but ready to give and surround, holding tight to suck you down at any moment. They stared at each other in amazement.

“Luke?” Rey gasped in surprise, delight obvious on her face.

Ben hesitated for only a moment before nodding, “It seems between the Ghosts and the twins, my uncle has been convinced to end his exile.”

“We’re changing things.”

He nodded, “We’ve been changing things since the moment we arrived, but this is a big one.” He eased her off him and stood up, waving a negligent hand to collect their clothing, “There isn’t anything we can do about it right now, so let’s get clean and go to bed.” He held out his hand to her and smirked, “Join me, please.”

“Gladly” Rey laughed, climbing to her feet and grasping his hand, “Kylo.”

He smirked at her and kissed the back of her hand.

“The refresher still isn’t working.” Rey warned as he pulled her up, “I need another 9mil bore.”

“We can get it after Ker Bir.” He agreed as they made their way to their quarters, the clothing floating along behind them.

When they broke through Kef Bir’s atmosphere a few hours later, it was raining. Kylo shouldn’t have been surprised, but for some reason he had expected the weather to be better this time. They could see the remains of the Death Star ahead of them as he manoeuvred _The Cloud_ around the metal skeleton, aiming to land on the same ledge he had used in a different lifetime until he saw another ship was already taking up space there.

“Kriff!”

“What?”

“That’s the _Night Buzzard_. The Knights of Ren’s ship.” He explained at her blank look.

“Oh… oh… we better get changed then.”

He nodded slowly, but a cold feeling had settled in his stomach, he couldn’t think of a good reason for the Knights to be here, not after the holo had been released.

He landed the _Cloud_ before he followed Rey back to their room to change.

Rey was frowning at her armour when he entered.

“What’s wrong?”

“I meant to do something with this but haven’t had the chance.” She fingered the material, “Its good, just not me.”

“Making your own armour is meant to be a point of pride to a Knight.”

“Hmm…” 

He watched her as she rearranged some pieces before beginning to dress, and then turned to his own clothing. It felt a bit like pulling on a disguise. Was it one? He still felt like Kylo Ren, even if the Knights had proved at Exegol that he wasn’t their master. Sighing internally at himself, he thought he had his identity issues worked out, he absently ran a hand over the material. He fingered the helmet, maybe it was the outfit itself? He had never particularly liked the outfit Snoke had put him in. Maybe it was just time to upgrade.

“Deep thoughts?” Rey interrupted him and he looked up from his mask to see her ready to go.

“Too deep for right now.” He agreed and followed her to the ramp. She let him exit first.

The door of the other ship opened, and two figures emerged.

“Kuruk, our usual pilot and sniper. Ap’lek is the other. He liked to sneak up on people.” Kylo spoke over the bond before saying out loud, “Let’s go meet them.”

“Ap’lek, Kuruk. You’ve probably heard of Paska, our new sister?”

Kuruk inclined his head, but Ap’lek snorted, “A nightsister, according to Ushar.”

“Nightsister trained.” Paska replied, “If I was a nightsister, I wouldn’t be standing here beside a man.”

“Did Cardo escape Starkiller?” Kylo asked.

Ap’lek shook his head, “There has been no word from him. What happened.”

Kylo sighed, “Let’s have a drink.”

Kuruk nodded and led the way into the _Buzzard._

When the four of them were seated around the table, Kylo pulled a bottle of something over with the Force and then flicked a finger to summon the glasses. After pouring for them, he raised his, “To Cardo.”

“To Cardo” the others echoed as they each drank.

Glancing around, Kylo took in Kuruk’s grizzled features and the hint of yellow in his skin. He met the Knight’s gaze and nodded, recognising the signs of his illness spreading. Kuruk nodded back.

“The Resistance attacked Starkiller. It was obvious they were trying to overload the weapons system which meant they had to have someone on base to open the oscillators. Paska, Cardo and I went after them and cornered them on the bridge over the main vent. We fought. Cardo got hit with a blaster bolt and went backwards. Kriffing idiot lobbed a grenade onto the bridge and trapped himself the other side to us. And then Starkiller started to explode. We went out the door on our side, but he had no way to get across to us.”

He downed the rest of his glass and then sighed.

“Starkiller… it was wrong. If that’s the way Snoke and the First Order are going, I’m cutting us loose. We’re not with the First Order anymore. We’ll go our own way.”

“Really?” Ap’lek asked, giving him an indecipherable look.

“Isn’t that the philosophy of the Knights? We follow where the Force wills? We are it’s tools, like the lightsabre blade only does what it’s created to, so do we.” Kylo poured himself another drink, “Whatever the Force meant for us to do with the First Order is _done_. Our path is no longer theirs.”

Kuruk nodded slowly, thinking his way through it. Ap’lek stroked his axe, hie eyes were deep set in an almost brutish face, but for all his appearance, he had a shrewd intelligence and was frightfully perceptive. His eyes flickered to Paska, considering.

“Speaking of philosophy, I believe we have a fight to get to.” Paska smiled dangerously and knocked her own drink back, clearly trying to change the topic.

Kylo nodded, glad of the distraction, “Kuruk?”

“Why him?” Ap’lek moaned.

“Because they’ll be hand to hand” Kylo shrugged, “Less change of damage before she fights you.”

“Oh.” 

Kylo felt Paska rolled her eye as she pulled her mask on.

Eyeing the ledge Kuruk had picked, Kylo was ninety percent sure it was where he had fought Rey in in the original timeline. The similarities were mounting up. How much of the future could they change? Was one or both destined to die on Exegol, no matter what they did? No, he had to believe they could make it out of this alive.

Paska nudged him, “Still too many thoughts?”

“And still not of the helpful variety.” He agreed, giving her a slight push towards the ledge were Kuruk waited.

Across the bond she questioned, “How sick it he?”

“Very” came the silent reply, “He was in the Holy City on Jedha when the Empire tested the Death Star.”

He watched Paska nod. Even Force healing was useless against that damage, maybe because the kyber crystals used to make the Death Star were tied to the Force. An odd thought struck him then, and he wasn’t sure if it were his or Paska’s, but could a kyber powered healing device fix the damage? And had such a thing ever existed?

Paska moved with an almost liquid grace as she fought, but it wasn’t enough when Kuruk finally caught her arm and flung her down. Rolling aside, avoiding a stomp, she leapt to her feet. He could feel her pleasure, feel the Shadow curling through her.

Thoughts of philosophy preoccupied him, but he forced himself to focus on the fight. Kuruk was bigger and had more upper body strength then Paska. He was human male, and she was human female. But the Force… Paska fought with as much Light as Dark. He watched the lake of her Force Signature lash around, Darkness sending those still waters whirling, raising a storm in the depths. The idea thrummed through him, _reaction_. He had no idea what it meant. But Kuruk, his Force Dark, streaked through with light, attacked again and the Light rose to meet him. Paska avoided the blow, catching his arm against her and twisting, Darkness surged, and she threw him to the ground. He rolled away, Light, flaring dimly as he jumped to his feet. Turning to face Paska, Darkness swamped Kuruk as he charged her. Her own Darkness rose to meet him, slipping his grip to punch his side. The Darkness coating her as she followed with a kick. He fell to the side, neither Dark nor Light and Paska, all Dark followed him, finishing the fight with a boot on his throat.

Ap’lek clapped and after a moment, Kylo followed, still shaken by that he had seen. Kuruk held his hand out to Paska, who took it willingly, hauling him to his feet as he said the ritual words.

“You win, Paska Ren.”

“You lose, Kuruk Ren.”

###  Gina

It was almost dawn when Gina woke with a soldier’s training, already alert, Finn only a moment behind her. If only waking together was as easy as being together, as being… siblings. There was so much still to say, so much they hadn’t figured out the words for yet. There were points of contention and outside of the First Order’s rigid hierarchy, Gina knew they didn’t a map to navigate them. Technically, Gina outranked Finn, but after the previous night, it was obvious that Master Skywalker expected them to leave the First Order teachings behind them, which left them with what exactly? She didn’t know.

The outcropping they met him on was barely big enough for them to sit together and Master Skywalker stood behind them, directing them to reach out with their feelings until they felt the energy of the Force, felt life and death, peace and violence, warmth and cold, Dark and Light.

“And between them?” he asked.

“Tension… Balance.”

She wasn’t sure who answered.

“Tension yes, but the balance, that’s an illusion.” Skywalker said simply, “The balance is on the Lightside of the Force, but the Dark will try to portray them as equal. Always be mindful of that. The Dark lies. Try again. Find the balance in the Light.”

Gina settled herself again and reached out, feeling Finn mirror her. The fake balance was there, the Force moving through everything. She bathed her soul in the Light, feeling the Light’s heat soak into her and trying to move away from the Dark. Something tugged at the corner of her consciousness, something colder, and the coolness was a nice contrast to the Light’s warmth. She drew closer to it. It was… below her!

The image exploded into her mind, a pit of darkness, vines growing from it. The air below cold and damp and…

CRACK

She collapsed forward, her head aching from the smack and turned to look at Master Skywalker. His face was filled with rage and fear as he hissed, “You went straight to the Dark… even after I just warned you.” He stepped back, “I knew this was a bad idea. No more! Not again.” He turned and fled.

“What did you do?” Finn asked in a whisper.

Gina shook her head, rubbing the sore spot, “I… I’m not sure. There’s a place below us… It was cool and felt really good after the Light, so I went closer and there… there was a hole in the ground and vines and then Master Skywalker clocked me over the head.”

Gina gazed out over the sea, “It didn’t _feel_ evil. Not like Snoke did.”

Finn sighed, “You really messed up. Come on. Let’s go after him.” He climbed to his feet and tracing Master Skywalker’s path from the cliff down to the temple, set off after the Last Jedi. Gina hesitated a moment and then followed.

They found him sitting by the reflecting pool in the temple and Master Skywalker motioned for them to sit across from him. Gina hesitated a moment, letting Finn walk over and sit down first before following more slowly.

She was shocked when he started speaking, “The legacy of the Jedi is failure.”

Dropping down to sit beside her brother, she didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say to that statement. Neither did Finn, she knew. Skywalker continued to gaze into the pool, staring at the figure on the bottom. 

“Now that they’re extinct, the Jedi have been romanticized, even deified, worshipped as some… perfect example of goodness of service to the Light. But they weren’t. They were people. And like people, they failed. At the height of their power, they were so blinded by their own importance they allowed Vader and Sidious to raise an empire right on front of them.

“They let the Republic bully them into taking military positions leading the clone armies.

“And they let Darth Sidious groom and turn the most powerful Force user ever, orchestrating Anakin Skywalker’s fall right across the road from the Temple.”

He bent to trail a finger through the pool, sending ripples out.

“Each mistake, each action compounding the others until…” he shrugged lightly, “Strip it all away and you get hubris, hypocrisy and the pursuit of power. It might have been the power to make a better galaxy, to stop the Sith, but it was still power. And power is the promise of the Dark.”

He looked at her, his eyes old and tired, “If it’s power you seek, I can’t train you any longer.”

Gina reared back in surprise, “I don’t… I didn’t… I wasn’t looking for power! The… it was cool and that was nice after the Light’s heat. That’s all…”

Shaking her head, she stammered to a halt, “I just want to find my place in this.”

Luke looked at her for a moment longer and nodded once. He turned his back to them, contemplating the sky, “Practise feeling the Force for the rest of the afternoon. And stay away from that hole.” Then he stood up and left them.

###  Leia Organa

Three hours had passed. C-3PO had caught her up on all the gossip. R2-D2 had joined them at some point with a bleak update on _the Ninka’s_ fuel supply, and now she could feel Amilyn outside the conference room door. She couldn’t quite hear the internal debate going through her best friend’s head, but she was getting the general gist of it from the emotions.

She rested her head in her hands, dropping the mantel of ‘General Organa’ for a moment. She was so damned tired, tired of fighting, tired of losing, tired of always, always putting the galaxy ahead of herself. She didn’t know how much longer she could go on for. For a blinding second, when Luke had reached out to her through the Force, Leia had been filled with hope, with confidence, elation even. All of which had lasted until _the Supremacy_ had appeared beside them. Now they were running from the most powerful warship in existence, with only enough fuel for a few more hours of hyperspace travel.

On the other side of the door Amilyn came to a decision and Leia straightened up, the general once more, as the door slid opened with a hiss.

“Amilyn, you have an idea?”

“Maybe. You know Rose Tico is still on board?”

Leia raised an eyebrow and nodded to the seat next to her, “3PO, can you get tea for us please?”

“Oh course, General.” 3PO gave a slight bow, as much as his frame would allow and shuffled off towards the sideboard.

“Her bafflers… we’ve been working to put them onto the transports.” Amilyn slid elegantly into the seat, “The idea was to use them to move drop-troopers into position without being detected, but…”

“What about _the Ninka_?”

“I don’t see a way to save it. Dameron is an idiot if he thinks he can ‘skip a ship this big.”

Leia sighed, as much as she wanted Poe to be right, _the Ninka_ was a Free Virgillia-class Bunkerbuster. The handful of recorded instances of successful hyperspace skipping had been with ships roughly the size of her husband’s pride and joy. Suddenly, the memory of Han calling out Luke for suggesting skipping the Tantive IV returned vividly to her mind. Han was reckless, but it was recklessness based on knowledge and experience. If even _he_ wouldn’t ‘skip a ship half the size of the _Ninka_ … She didn’t want to think about it, any of it. Not about the reports from Starkiller that the _Falcon_ had been there despite her orders to Han. Not about Kylo- _Ben’s_ aggression when they spoke or the fact that he hadn’t contacted her again. Not about what would happen if Snoke caught them, particularly what would happen to Ben.

“You don’t like Poe. You’ve always had opinions on my ‘hot-shot-fly-boy’ tastes, but this time seems… personal. I didn’t think he was your type.” She said instead.

“He’s impulsive, reckless and argumentative. His arrogance far outstretches his ability and I doubt he follows orders willingly. I like him.” Amilyn shrugged, “But Leia… he’s not Ben.”

Leia jerked back, her eyes widening in a suddenly pale face.

Amilyn nodded to her, “I’m saying this as your friend, Leia, because I think you need to hear it. I’ve watched you look for your son in every upcoming fly boy you meet. I’ve watched you take them under your wing again and again, only for you to move onto the next two months, four months later. Dameron has lasted the longest, but he followed you to the Resistance. I see what you’re doing, Leia.”

“How dare you!” Leia hissed, “You have no idea…”

“Your right” she cut her off, “I have no idea. How many times did you hold my hand when I lost another baby?”

Leia deflated.

“How many nights did you join me after Ricarro left me because I couldn’t carry to term?”

Her eyes closed, but Amilyn was relentless.

“How many times did I watch you push your son away, even as you looked for him in others?”

Leia whimpered.

“I would have given anything for a child. And you had one, but because he wasn’t the perfect golden clone of Bail Organa that you wanted him to be, I had to watch you throw him away, to nanny droids and teaching programmes and tutors, and finally to Skywalker. And all through that I had to watch you seek out young men who were what you _wanted_ Ben to be.”

“I wasn’t trying to throw him away. I was… I just… There was so much to do, and he needed too much and I… and I…”

“And you.” Amilyn agreed coolly, “And now Ben is out there, willing to work with us. Rumour has it he even had a conversation with his father. And here you are, still cozying up to Dameron.”

Leia flinched.

Amilyn got back to her feet. “I’ll have Tico start prepping the transports. Any ideas on where we should land?”

“Danton VI? We’re headed in that direction, aren’t we?”

Amilyn nodded, already pulling out a comm to give the orders when they felt the ship shift beneath them. They were coming out of hyperspace. Sharing a look, the two women headed towards the bridge as quickly as they could.

Leia wasn’t sure what to expect when they go there, but the bridge staff moving hastily, and a but muggily, towards the bridge doors wasn’t it.

“Captain Murtagh?” Leia asked slowly, “What is the meaning of this?” Leia already had a good idea, and it was not good. She braced for the confirmation.

“General?” the Elomin looked confused, running a hand over his horns, “Commander Dameron took over the bridge about an hour ago so we could get some rest. I thought you had agreed to it.”

“Who was with him?” she ground out.

“Ahh… three women, Connix, Kun and Javos. A man called Muva.”

Beside her, Holdo dropped her face into her hands, “This is why I never liked your fly-boys, Princess.”

“You didn’t order it?” A confused Captain Murtagh asked slowly.

“No, I most definitely, did not. The idiot is going to try to hyperspace skip the _Ninka_.”

Murtagh shook his head, “The _Ninka_ is too big…”

The _Ninka_ rocked suddenly as blasts from either TIE fighters or _the Supremacy_ itself hit the shields. Alarms began to sound.

“Poe, you _idiot!”_ Leia hissed, “Captain Murtagh, get those doors open. Pava” she nodded to the last, half asleep, member of Black Squadron as she came up beside her, “If Poe tries something, I need you to shoot him.”

The woman blinked more awake, “Shoot Poe? What’s happened, General.” 

“Later, just shoot him if I tell you to.”

“Yes, General.”

The ship lurched back into hyperspace, any TIE fighters following caught in the wake.

The doors opened and the bridge staff dashed back in, Amilyn and Leia following them. Poe sat at the pilot’s console; all his attention focused on the screens ahead of him as he dodged through an asteroid’s ravine. The _Ninka’s_ usual pilot, a pale-faced human woman of indeterminate age stopped behind him, her hands fisted at her sides.

BB8 whirled and beeped. Poe pushed a button and the ship lurched into hyperspace, jittering enough to knock a handful of people off their feet. Leia would never admit to using the Force to maintain her balance and catch Amilyn’s elbow. Poe whooped in delight. They had lost the _Supremacy_. 

BB8 beeped again and they dropped out of hyperspace with a thump, the stabilizers clearly not having survived.

“One more, buddy.” Poe grinned recklessly before throwing over his shoulder, “See, General, I _told_ you I… KRIFF!”

Everyone stumbled as Poe threw the ship to the side, narrowly avoiding the Supremacy’s turbolasers. Leia felt her stomach drop. The massive ship didn’t even bother with TIE fighter’s this time, it’s cannons beginning to sweep towards them.

“Now BB8, now!”

 _The Ninka_ shuddered into hyperspace, the metal around them straining. They came out again, the ship whining and groaning around them.

“What do you mean, fuels nearly out?” Poe yelped at BB8’s next beep, “I thought you said we had enough!”

BB8 whirled at him.

“Well… One last jump then.”

“To these co-ordinates, Commander.” Holdo’s voice was crisp and dry.

Poe’s eyes widened as he took in the two woman and he mumbled, “Yes, ma’am”.

BB8 whirled and beeped in disgust. Rolling in behind them, R2 replied. Leia raised an eyebrow, glancing between them, “Really, R2, I think you’re a special case.”

R2 beeped back, clearly disagreeing.

“Yes, well, my understanding is your last memory wipe was before the Clone Wars, so…”

A surprised beep queried who had told her that.

“Master Kenobi. Something about General Grievous capturing you and my father having to admit he never wiped it. I assume he didn’t follow Master Kenobi’s instruction to do so afterwards.”

R2 gave a slightly sheepish whir in confirmation.

“BB8 might need a few more decades before he’ll feel confident in simply ignoring a direct order, don’t you think?”

Leia grabbed for the Force again as the _Ninka_ dropped out of hyperspace with a scream of tearing metal. The lights died. The engines roared for a moment and then cut out. The ship floated onwards, drifting on it’s own momentum. A dim red glow slowly spread around the bridge as the emergency lights kicked in.

“Kriff!” Leia wasn’t sure who said it, but she agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

“Poe, you imbecile!” She stormed over to him.

Poe hopped out of the pilot’s chair, bracing himself just in time for Leia’s open hand to meet his cheek hard enough to make the room spin.

“General, I…”

“That’s enough, _Captain_ Dameron. It’s bad enough we’re in this situation without having to listen to your excuses.”

He quieted, though she wasn’t sure if that was because he realised how dire their situation was or because of the demotion. She’d take either if it resulted in his silence.

“Someone tell me where we are.” Amilyn said into the silence.

“Crait System, ma’am.” 

Leia raised an eyebrow at her. Crait… the situation might be salvageable.

“Ship status?”

“Hyperspace engines are down. Main engines are down as well, ma’am. Life support at sixty percent.”

The _Ninka_ was dead, floating in space. Only one question remained. Leia turned to look out the windows. Had _the Supremacy_ been able to follow them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah... not gunning for Leia. I'm really not. She does strike me as the kind of person who needs her mistakes shoved into her face to acknowledge them though, so yeah, Amilyn shoved her face into it. Let the healing begin.
> 
> And Luke... RoTJ paints him as on the verge of fanaticism. I think it's perfectly reasonable to see the events at the Jedi school pushing him over that edge.


	4. Playing the Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke remembers Ban as a padawan while waiting for the Falcon. Paska Ren fights Ap'lek Ren and we find out how things are going for Hux.

###  Luke Skywalker

Luke watched from the temple door as _the Millennium Falcon_ landed on a ledge about halfway down the hill. Had it really been only a few days before when he, standing on the bluff, resolved to ignore Han’s arrival? And when was the last time, he had seen the _Falcon_ before that?

When he asked Leia to tell Han to stay away from the school, he hadn’t meant for the man never to return. It was meant to be temporary. Ben had been… improving… maybe. Getting better at controlling his temper anyway. He was obviously lonely and unhappy, and every time Han visited Ben begged to leave with him. His father leaving without him always caused an immediate drop in the Light within him and he would act out violently and recklessly. A week or two later he would settle down, his mood stabilizing, and turn his attention back to books and calligraphy often so focused that he forgot to eat. His friend, Tai, had been worried about that, Luke remembered, had been worried that he wasn’t bothering to.

Once Han had stopped visiting, Ben’s behaviour had evened out. There were more and more flashes of the Light Luke knew was in there. He stopped the aggressive and threatening behaviour. And, no, he hadn’t been happy, a fact he knew Snoke capitalized on. Some days it seemed like he was just going through the motions, but his meditation skills had improved dramatically. Ben had been able to sit still for hours at a time, lost in the Force so he had discouraged Han from coming back, even going so far as to meet him off world to collect Ben’s fifteenth birthday present (he hadn’t given it to him until a few weeks later, as a reward for helping some of the younger padawans, but that was beside the point). Without his father’s presence, Ben had slowing been becoming the Jedi and the solace to the memory of Vader, Luke knew the Skywalker Heir was meant to be.

Ben was by nature aloof and withdrawn and the only thing that seemed to bring him genuine enjoyment was lightsaber practise, something he had excelled at. 

Truth be told, Luke hadn’t been able to consistently beat his nephew with a lightsaber from around his seventeenth birthday, a problem compounded by the effect on his standing with the other padawans. His embarrassment had been a lesser concern. The other students had feared Ben and needed to believe that he could protect them. _He_ had feared Ben because he knew he _couldn’t._ They had all been right to fear him. 

He had pushed Voe, used her competitive nature, in the hopes she would one day be his equal. She never was, and Ben seemed to find the young woman’s constant challenges exasperating. At least he had never shown any interest in her as a woman. He had enough problems with the pubescent padawans without his nephew, a literal _prince_ , trying the charm them other into his bed. For a while he though Ben was like him, simply not interested, but the dyad was the more likely cause. The Sith monstrosity… He needed to deal with it quickly before they got too close. Maybe now Ben was away from Snoke, and he got him away from the Sith seductress, he could return him to the Light.

The ship settled into place and the ramp lowered with a thud he felt more then heard, breaking him from his contemplation. Chewie ejected a couple of porgs who fluttered away, squawking at their treatment, before turning back into the ship with an aggravated roar.

Luke sighed, and closed his eyes for a moment. Breathing his fear and guilt, hurt and pain out into the Force, and wrapping himself in calmness and righteousness. Time to face the music. He made his way down the hillside, stopping to pick up his pack from his hut and the twins from theirs. 

Han was standing with his arms crossed when they reached the impromptu landing pad. The twins looked nervously between the two men and Finn began to sidle around them, almost dragging his sister, “We’ll just go stash our stuff” he mumbled speeding up once they passed Han. Chewie growled an agreement at them, which sent them scurrying faster because neither understood Shyriiwook. Luke quirked his lips.

“Han, Chewie” he greeted slowly, the Force lending him serenity.

“Luke.” The other man nodded but didn’t seem to know what to say next.

Chewie didn’t have that problem though, roaring in anger, stormed forward to smack him to the ground while he called him every kind of idiot under the suns and demanded to know what he had been thinking.

“Yeah, Chewie, that about sums it up.” Han nodded; his voice filled with barely restrained emotion.

Luke sighed and sat up, rubbing his cheek, at least he’d been forewarned enough to brace for it “I probably deserved that. I tried Han, and it seemed to be working. The Light was growing and then, suddenly it wasn’t. I don’t know what happened.”

“It never worked, Luke. Your damned Light was a trap. Now get on board because if we talk about this now, I’ll end up shooting you and Leia’s going to want that privilege.”

Luke winced, clambered to his feet and followed Han into the Falcon, “Speaking of Leia, we have to make a stop on the way.”

“Really?” Han called back.

“Yeah, The Holy City on Kijimi.”

Han stopped at the entrance to the cockpit corridor and repeated, “Kijimi.”

Luke sighed, “It’s important, Han, or I wouldn’t ask.”

“Start talking, and no Force stuff.” Han pointed a finger at him till he nodded back.

“Have you ever heard of a Dyad before?”

Han turned back to face him with a sigh, indicating he had, and Luke looked genuinely surprised.

“I’ll get us in the air, then you talk.” Han pointed a finger at him.

Luke nodded to the retreating back and made his way to the Dejarik table, sitting beside Finn and Gina.

 _The Falcon_ rumbled to life around them.

Luke wished it took longer for the ship to settle into hyperspace and free Han and Chewie to return to the lounge and pull up chairs beside them. He could feel the waves of discomfort coming off Finn and Gina but, maybe selfishly, he didn’t give them permission to leave. If the twins were serious about being Jedi, then they _had_ to understand. Sometimes Jedi were required to see what other people refused to, to see the truth and make the difficult decisions. Attachment couldn’t be allowed to blind them.

Han held up his hand, “In the interests of fair play, Ben has already told me his side of the story.”

Luke winced, “I assume, I don’t come across too well.”

“He woke up with you holding a lit lightsaber over his head,” Han drawled, “so, no you don’t.”

“The Light had been growing in him steadily for years and then suddenly, it was like all the good work was undone overnight.” Luke sighed, his eyes distant, “All I could feel from him was Darkness. I went to his hut, I wanted to see for myself” he laughed harshly, “I had to do it while he was asleep so he wouldn’t block me.”

Gina and Finn glanced at each other, shifting uncomfortably.

“And there was Darkness, so much Darkness. I panicked. For a moment, I thought it was best to just… end it there and then. I don’t even remember drawing, or lighting, my saber.” He rubbed a hand over his face, “I realised what I had done, what I was doing and… that’s when he woke.”

Luke’s voice was emotionless as he finished, “He pulled the hut down, burned the Temple to the ground and fled with Voe, Hennix and Tai. That was the biggest shock, I though Voe couldn’t stand him. She was always competitive and hated how easily he beat her.” He licked his lips and admitted, “How easily he could beat me.”

Han’s shoulders slumped, part of him wanted to leave Luke wallowing in guilt and failure. Part of him wanted to see how much further the man would break if he knew the truth. Mostly, he wanted this to _not_ have happened.

“And the Dyad?”

“Master Kenobi suspects Ben and a girl called Rey are a Dyad.”

Finn and Gina perked up at that, “Rey?”. 

Luke nodded slowly. He hadn’t realised they knew Rey which complicated things, but he ploughed on anyway. They had to understand the danger, “If they are, then you must understand how serious this is. Dyads are unstable, a perversion of the Force. They go against beliefs of the Jedi, against the Light itself. They need to be stopped.”

Han leaned back, looking at him, “I’ll take you to Kijimi. Then, I’ll take you to Leia. If you go within a star system of my son, I will _build_ a Death Star, just so I can blow it up with you on it. Do you understand?”

“Han…”

“No. You listen, you milk-moofer. I’ve _spoken_ to Ben and Rey. For the first time since he was a little kid, my son is happy. I don’t care if it took joining the Force-forsaken _Sith_ to get him that way, but you owe it to _him_ and to _me_ and to your _sister_ to let him be happy. So, I want your word, here and now, Tatooine style, that you will stay away from him and do nothing to interfere with that happiness. Otherwise, I’m dropping your ass back onto that island and you can rot, Leia and the Resistance be damned.”

Chewie roared his agreement.

What choice did he have, but to agree?

Gina waited until Han and Chewie had returned to the cockpit before speaking. Luke had to admire her restraint.

“So, you just… waited for him to go asleep and went into his head? Without permission? Without asking?”

“I was his master, Gina. It was my responsibility to guide him in the Force. I did what I felt was necessary. Have faith in the Force and it will guide you.”

“Did you ask at all?”

“He would have said now. Ben was a… very private individual.” He didn’t mention Snoke.

“You know,” Finn hesitated, “the Supreme Leader does that too? Just goes into people’s head whenever he decides too.”

“I doubt Snoke pays much attention to what the Force wants. Do not mistake acting on the will of the Force with acting on your own fears and desires. The former is the way of the Light, that latter is the path to the Darkside.” 

He stood up and left them. As he walked away, he heard Gina wonder how to tell the difference. Luke sighed. They would learn. If they were truly meant to be Jedi, the Force would show them the way. Right now, he had a bigger problem, specifically how to get around the promise he just made Han. A Dyad? It was nothing but a perverted Sith creation, designed to perpetuate a lie. Ben and Rey needed to be stopped before they destroyed everything Kylo Ren hadn’t already.

###  Rey/Paska Ren

They decided to take a break after Paska pulled Kuruk back to his feet, swigging from water bottles Kylo had produced, Rey suspected from the Cloud, as they made their plans. The two of them were here for a reason that had nothing to do with fighting Kuruk and Ap’lek. The later grumbled about the delay, but Kuruk shoved him and told him to let Paska get her breath back.

The inside of the Death Star was as creepy as Paska remembered, but with Darkness flowing through her, the depressive fear that had overwhelmed her last time was tempered. Her own lust for the fight was reason enough _to_ fight and she no longer felt like giving into that lust was something to be denied. It wasn’t that she was ‘settled easily in the Dark’, the irony wasn’t lost on her, it was that the Dark was her home as much as the Light. They didn’t fight over her anymore because she gave both what they wanted. That she could, she suspected, was the ultimate heresy to the Jedi.

They stepped into her grandfather’s throne room and looked around. In the shadows under the crushed beams, the shadow of a robbed woman was just about visible for a moment before the clouds above shifted the lights and mirage was gone. Paska smiled sadly and Kylo dropped ha hand onto her shoulder, giving her a little squeeze. He was looking at a spot further in, remembers the heartbreak and horror of their last visit as clearly as she did.

She reached up to give his hand a little squeeze, “She isn’t waiting to die this time.”

“Isn’t she?” Kylo sighed, “All the things we changed and some things remain the same. The bridge, getting the map, the Order invading D’Qar, sending the twins to Luke, here. I keep seeing the same things happening, different but the same.”

Paska nodded, “I know what you mean, but we have to _believe_ we can make it better. Anakin believed we could.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Kuruk called from where he was examining a half-collapsed wall.

They both startled, having forgot they weren’t alone.

Sudden inspiration struck Paske, and she smirked at Kuruk and Ap’lek before tilting her head at Kylo. She could feel the raised eyebrow under his helmet. With a little skip and a half jump, she turned to face him, taking a step back so her legs bumped the throne.

Kylo snorted. Kuruk and Ap’lek looked on as she dropped herself onto her grandfather’s throne, “I never really thought about it, but this is mine by right of blood.”

“Among the Sith, to the victor to the spoils.” Ap’lek corrected, “You haven’t killed the Emperor.”

She looked at him the same time Kylo did, intrigued by his wording. Darkness crawled up her legs, wrapping her in anger and betrayal.

“Not yet anyway.”

Ap’lek took a step back, almost crashing into Kuruk, “You…”

“Knew?” Kylo finished for him, “Yes. What I don’t know is why he has your loyalty over me.”

“He doesn’t!” Kuruk snapped, “That’s why we’re here.”

“Explain.” Paska said as Kylo walked over to lean against her throne.

The two knights looked at each other. Something passed between them before Kuruk spoke, “Snoke… after we came back from Rodia, Snoke asked you to send two Knights on a mission for him. You sent Cardo and Vicrul. Snoke sent them to a planet called Exegol. The Emperor was waiting for them there.”

Ap’lek took over, “When they came back, they were different. We were never heroes. I’d go so far as to say we were the bad guys, but we weren’t evil, not like that, not like they came back. A few months later Ushar and Trudgen went, and the same thing happened. We…” he motioned between them, “talked and managed to avoid it. We took every mission you offered so we were never around when Snoke or the Emperor remembered us. As long as we did what Snoke ordered, we figured it was okey, we’d keep our mouths shut, but now… After the holo, we decided we had to talk to you.”

“Truth” whispered across the bond. 

She agreed, sending back “Trust”

Kylo waited for Paska to say it before speaking, “We know he’s alive. We know Snoke is a strandcast created by him. We know about the Final Order. We know how this ends.”

“How…”

“A _standcast?”_

“Because we’re from about twenty years into the future.” She shrugged in reply to Ap’lek.

She could tell Kuruk was staring at her even with the helmet. Ap’lek shook his head, “The future?”

“My grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, decided it would be a good idea to send us back. I believe he was much given to such… unexpected actions.” Kylo added blandly.

Paska snorted.

But something had clearly caught in Ap’leks mind and he turned to face her, “Why is it yours by blood?” he sounded almost scared of the answer.

“Because Sheev Palpatine is my grandfather.”

Paska tossed the wayfinder from hand to hand as she watched the two Knights rummage around the throne room. Kylo was now sprawled out on the throne, one leg hooked insolently over the armrest. She ran her eyes over him, he looked good there. The throne suited him. He caught the thought and leered at her. Damned helmet. She would have liked to see his face. And she was getting distracted again. The Dark called to her, wanted her to drown in _something,_ and since she wasn’t fighting or raging, lust called to her instead. She dragged her attention away, focusing on the two Knights instead. Their addition made a total of four people they had told the truth about where they came from. She hadn’t anticipated them, but any help was useful.

“I think we should get a droid.” She said randomly.

“If you want” Kylo agreed, holding out a hand. 

She threw him the wayfinder, asking, “Is it the same as the other one?”

Kylo twisted it around and shrugged, “Looks like. I didn’t exactly study the other one.”

A loud clank interrupted them, and they turned to watch Ap’lek move a sheet of metal out of the way. Kuruk howled in delight as he pulled a holocron out of the hole before reaching down for another. Within moments, five of the devices lay on the floor at his feet. Paska could feel his elation.

Ap’lek grunted, obviously irritated that Kuruk got the prize and turned to leer at her behind his mask, “Have you got your breath back your highness?”

Paska snorted, “Don’t call me that”, but she pulled her staff out and spun it around, “Come at me.”

She knew Ap’lek was grinning.

He caught her first blow on his axe. It glowed red hot but didn’t melt. Paska disengaged and backed up in surprise. She tried again, and again the axe stopped it.

Straightening up, she enquired, “Beskar?”

Ap’lek nodded proudly, giving it another spin, “A Mandalorian Executioners Axe.”

“You know, in a real fight I’d pull my blaster on you now.”

“That sweet little DH-17, you were sporting earlier?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Suddenly she threw her arm out, sending Ap’lek stumbling back across the throne room. She was after him in a moment, her blades swiping down as she tried to get under the swing of his axe. As he regained his footing, she danced away. 

On the throne, Kylo crossed his legs, partially concealing the growing bulge, but she could feel the swelling. Watching her fight with her staff was turning him on. That was interesting, sparring with her usually ended that way, but this was… actually it was the first time he had simply watched her with the staff. Beneath her mask, she licked her lips, interesting indeed. The phantom feel of his arousal was causing her own blood to heat. And he looked damn good on her throne… She ducked to avoid a swing. Right, fight now, sex later. She eyed the throne again and felt his interest peek. She needed to win this fight.

Darting forward, she tried again to get under the axe. Ap’lek caught her staff and twisted, sending her to the floor. She rolled away, avoiding the follow up strike. She slashed at him as she stumbled up and he jumped back out of the way. The Darkness crawled around her, making her skin buzz and hiss. Ap’lek has just enough ability to tell what she was going to do before she did it, but not enough to work with her.

Her eyes narrowed and Paska crept around him. He turned on the spot, following her. Suddenly he leapt forward, swinging the axe. Paska blocked and his fist slammed into her stomach, a heavy hand catching her and flinging her to the floor. The axe came down against her throat.

Dropping her head back, her helmet clanking on the metal floor, she sighed out, “You win, Ap’lek Ren.”

“You lose, Paska _Ren_.”

She climbed to her feet, shaking her arms to get the tension out. Kylo rose to his feet and tossed the wayfinder to Kuruk, “Put that in the _Buzzard_. Do you know who has the other one.”

Kuruk fumbled a bit as he caught it, “Trudgen, him and Vicrul went to get the one from Mustafar after the holo was released. We were sent to retrieve this one. Ushar is still on the _Supremacy_.”

Paska watched Kylo nod and then say, “We’ll meet you back at the ships.”

Kuruk and Ap’lek just looked at him, then at Paska and she blushed under her mask. Yeah, the two Knights had no illusions about what they were going to do. Then they laughed and left.

It took Kylo one step to pull off his helmet and two to reach her. Her’s clanked onto the ground a moment later as he lips landed on hers and he pulled her tight against his body, “Fuck Paska, watching you fight…” the groan that followed was powerful, primal and all male.

She sank her hands into his soft hair and crushed their lips together again. His hands were already fumbling with the clasps on her armour, stripping the layers from her. Not to be out done, she returned the favour, pushing his jerkin down his arms before yanking his undershirt up. They broke apart only long enough to pull the clothing off.

Step by step, she backed him up to the throne, until he fell back onto it and she paused long enough to kick off her boots and shimmy out of the trousers. Kylo canted his hips, freeing his dick to the cool air with a sigh of relief. His resorted to the Force to get his trousers and boots off when Paska dropped herself into his lap and reclaimed his lips.

Her slick centre dragged up his dick, sliding wetly, letting him know he wasn’t the only one turned on by the fight. He breathed a moan into her mouth, and she smiled as his hands caught her hips and lifted her. The Force held him straight as he lowered her down into his aching member, both sighing in relief. The dyad flared open between them, spilling them into each other as Kylo helped her lift and drop down.

Their movements synced, his thrust becoming her drop. They pulled away from each other and came together in passion and pleasure, harmony and joy. This was what the Jedi has never dared conceive of. It was what the Sith had feared so much. In the rise of fall of their hips and hearts, they found balance. In a blinding moment of Light and Dark, as pleasure ripped through them held each other on the precipice and the Force _sang_. Paska threw back her head, his name falling from her lips. Kylo buried his face between her breasts, muffing his own yell in her skin before slumping back against the throne. They stayed there for a moment, just catching their breaths as the cool stone slowly drained the lust fuelled heat from their skin. Suddenly Kylo looked at her with a grin, “Is your grandfather’s throne suitably defiled?”

Paska smiled back, “Yeah, I think it is.”

###  Armitage Hux

The rebel ship was dead in space. That much was clear just from looking at it, but the scans confirmed it anyway. Beside him, Admiral Karagee grunted, “Stupid idea, ‘skipping a ship that big. Inertia would pull it apart even if the stress didn’t.”

Hux nodded as if he understood. Give him Starkiller Base and he could explain exactly what every part of it did, but he had no idea what was involved in starship design or hyperspace travel.

“We’re sure General Organa is on board?”

Karagee nodded, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck where the shaved hair was starting to grow through, “They couldn’t have dropped a ship between ‘skips. She’s still on board.”

Hux wasn’t Force sensitive to feel Karagee’s response to his smile, but he was observant enough to _see_ the admiral swallow quickly and tension tighten the man’s shoulders.

Good. Ren wasn’t the only one who could incite fear in the minions. A niggly voice in the back of his head, sounding suspiciously like his father, pointed out that Ren had gotten _respect_ too. He squished it.

“Tractor then in, Admiral. Let us see what fishies we caught today.”

“Yes, sir! Tractor beam at the ready.”

He left the man to do his job and headed towards the hold. The biggest problem with a ship the size of the _Supremacy_ was the amount of time took to get there and he wanted to be ready when is prize was brought out.

The stormtroopers had just blown open the airlocks on the _Ninka_ when he finally marched into the hanger. Captain Phasma stood at the bottom of the ramp, a squad of stormtroopers standing with her, half of them armed with megablasters. Clearly, she wasn’t taking any risks. Nodding to him once, she ordered the troops forward, heavy assault troopers first and followed them. They started firing almost immediately.

Hux fought not to flinch as he closed in on the open airlock. A crewman lay sprawled on the ground, just visible inside, a chunk of his side missing from one of the megablasters. Hux was not a warrior, barely a solider and an officer as a last resort. He _made_ himself hold back a gag at the smell. The mess and _dirt_ associated with combat was something he always liked to be as far away from as possible. Let the likes of Ren and Phasma get covered in blood and… stuff doing the dirty work. Hux’s place was observing from on high, either in charge or at the right hand of whoever was. Right now, though, triumph made him impatient. He minced up the ramp, delicately side-stepping anything organic-looking. It was easy enough to tell which direction the megablasters had gone in. And from the sounds of it, the Resistance’s ‘resistance’ was almost over. He straightened his uniform and set off down the corridor.

He found them in what looked like it had once been the cafeteria, a ragtag band of maybe seventy people. Phasma was standing to one side, watching over the troops like a proud mother. And speaking of mothers… General Leia Organa stood in the middle of the troops, a man he recognised at Poe Dameron on one side and a tall woman with pink hair on the other. He should know her, but right now he only had eyes for his prize.

Stepping between the troopers, he looked her over, cataloguing everything. She was smaller then his expected, probably only up to his shoulder. He couldn’t see the resemblance. Th woman before him was tiny, so tiny, he almost doubted Kylo Ren was hers. Then he met her eyes and all the doubts vanished. Leia Organa might not have been a Jedi, but he had learned to recognise the eyes of a Force user in Organa’s son’s eyes and they could have been mistaken for the ones he looked at how. A cruel smile tugged at the corner of his lips, “General Organa, it is a pleasure to have you on board.”

“Hux, isn’t it?”

“General Armitage Hux, yes.”

“Huggs?” she tilted her head to Dameron who jumped slightly at being addressed.

“Ye…yeah, General.”

“He doesn’t look like a huggy type of person to me.” She eyed him again, “Do you like hugs, General?”

It took him a moment to catch up, “Not particularly.”

“Neither does my son. Except for Rey, he seems to like her hugs just fine.” Her eyes flickered to Phasma, “Find the right partner and everyone likes hugs.”

Hux forced himself not to glance over at Phasma, or lick his suddenly dry lips, “Is there a point to this inane drivel?”

“Just making conversation. You mind if I sit down?” She held out a hand and a chair dragged itself across the floor to her. “Old bones,” she said, gracefully sitting down and crossing her legs elegantly. She twitched her fingers again and another chair scrapped over, positioning itself across from her, and she motioned him to it.

That was a hell of a power move, Hux seethed as he gave it to her, Leia Organa, out-gunned, out-manoeuvred and a prisoner on the First Order flagship, had just stolen control from him in the same easy manner her son did. The bile rose in his throat, a million memories of Kylo Ren’s off-hand elegance and _confidence_ flittered through his mind. Grinding his teeth, he took the seat. This was an old woman, a captive on an enemy ship. She might be Kylo Ren’s mother, but she was _not_ Kylo Ren. _She_ was not about to use the Force to choke him or show him up before his troops, or Snoke or anyone else. She was his prisoner. This was just… showing off. He would let her have her little show and then take back control.

She smiled sadly, looking old and tired, “It’s been thirty-five years since I’ve been in this position, or one like it anyway.” She shrugged gracefully, “It will be interesting to see how Snoke measures up to my father.”

“Organa?” It took him a moment to understand, “Vader.”

She nodded, “Three days, he tortured me, ripping my mind apart with drugs and… other things. Vader wasn’t skilled at forcing his way into people’s heads. It was about the only thing he didn’t have any talent for, so he never got anything out of me. I honestly don’t know Snoke’s abilities with it.”

He couldn’t stop the flinch.

“Better then Vader’s, I think.”

He could feel his shoulders tighten under his uniform.

“Yes, much better then Vader. Do you know what he is?” she eyed him shrewdly.

“He is the Supreme Leader. That is all I need to know.” He snapped the much-practised line immediately.

“Do you know why my son defected?”

“Kylo Ren was a coward, and he ran like a coward.” He hissed, focusing on that rather then the multitude of thoughts running through his mind, chief among them, if she could hear what he was thinking. 

Leia laughed, her voice honey warm, “One thing no one could ever accuse Ben Solo of being, is a coward, General Hux, and that didn’t change when he took the name Kylo Ren. If that’s what you see, then you’ve let your hatred blind you.” Her voice lowered, “I don’t need to read your mind to know that.”

Hux jumped to his feet, his chair clattering to the floor, fear and fury both streaking through him, making his fists clench and his limbs tremble, “Put them in the cells and split them up. Organa, Dameron… any other officers are to be put in solitary. _Now!”_

Breathing hard, Hux watched the stormtroopers jerk into action, yelling orders as they sorted the prisoners and escorted them out. He dared not look at Phasma as she left.

Once he was alone, he righted the chair and slowly sank into it. How did the Resistance know? It had taken him five years to get a cell sample from Snoke. Another year of hiding the gene farm to get the results and Organa just waltzes in and says it like it’s common knowledge in the Resistance. The Supreme Leader had very carefully cultivated his image. He wouldn’t take well to having it destroyed. For that matter, not everyone in the First Order officer ranks would follow something they knew was a strandcast. If Organa could be tricked into exposing the secret…

He nodded once to himself, decision made, time now to plan it, but not sitting in this pile of junk. He straightened his uniform and march out of the ship, taking care to avoid looking at the corpses that littered the corridors. The queasiness was just from the conformation with Organa, not anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm mostly finished torturing Leia. Now she just has to swallow her pride and we can have a happy family reunion... Does that sound like Leia? Poor Luke, he's really not willing to accept anything that goes against the Jedi teachings. I seen an interview excerpt which said Adam Driver thought of Kylo Ren as a fanatic who saw everything as justified if it achieved his goals. Ironically, that's how I've been writing Luke (although I've been looking at it in more of a Born-Again-Christian style). The twins have their hands full with him.
> 
> And sadly, my posting has caught up on my writing, so I can't promise an update next week. I like to have most of the story written before I start posting to make sure I finish it, but...


	5. What Counts As A Win Anyway?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Ani's back! Him and Yoda have a moment. We get a Wookiee history lesson and Leia tangles with the First Order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm debating renaming the ship. The Silver Cloud was just a placeholder, but I never actually came up with anything I liked. Has anyone got any ideas?

###  Anakin Skywalker

“So, you’re back.” It was a statement of fact, dropped into the aether in a core crisp accent, with just a touch of derision.

“Ouch”

“Richly deserved, I think.” If Obi Wan had arms, they would be crossed, Anakin was certain even in his current, befuddled state.

“Did you think at all, before you pulled this stunt?”

“Not really. I just… saw the opportunity and took it.”

“Of course, you did.”

He’d swear he could feel the sigh even in a place with neither air, nor physical... anything. They were one with the Force, but right now, communicating like this, it felt like they had bodies. Anakin supposed it was mostly psychosomatic. He could almost hear Ashoka Tano laughing ‘Big Word!’ at him.

“Well, I suppose you had better explain what you did think.”

Anakin huffed as much as he could in the Cradle of the Force and asked instead, “Are things going that badly?”

“What do you remember?”

A shrug, if such a thing was possible here, “Truthfully, not much. I wasn’t expecting to be released until the Battle of Exegol, but it doesn’t feel like that much time has passed.”

He wanted to know where in the timeline he was, but he couldn’t outright ask without giving away when he came from. And he didn’t owe the Jedi, even Obi Wan, any explanations. Obi Wan knew it too, harrumphed and grudgingly said, “The Twins are with Luke, on their way to Kijimi. Ben had quit the First Order and is currently on Kef Bir with Rey. Your daughter is fleeing the Supremacy… which isn’t what you expected to hear.”

Anakin felt like he shook his head, “Twins?”

“Gina and Finn, they were stormtroopers, defected.”

“Oh, I knew about Finn. I didn’t know he had a sister. Leia sent them to get Luke, not Rey? Why? What happened to her?”

“Rey and Ben ran off together at Takodana. Was that not meant to happen?”

“Starkiller?”

“Was destroyed a little over a week ago. Are you going to answer my questions?”

Anakin didn’t respond for a moment. He felt a brief flare of aggravation and suddenly, they were standing in the temple on Ahch To.

Anakin fought to regain his balance as he suddenly had mass and glared at Obi Wan, “That was uncalled for.”

“I felt being able to shake some sense into you might be necessary.” He snapped back.

“No. I don’t answer to you. I don’t have to explain myself to you or to anyone else in the Order. I definitely don’t have to just take this anymore!”

Obi Wan’s shoulders dropped and he nodded slowly, “You’re right. The others have made their position very clear. But secrets have got us into this mess, and I honestly believe that only _trusting_ each other will get us out.”

“Then _ask_! And offer back. Don’t just _take_ and act like the Jedi have the right to do what they want.”

“Anakin, please tell me what happened?” Obi Wan said softly, acknowledging his point.

“I saw the… the dyad. When Rey died, it was like the Force curved around them, creating a… place that as both living and death. It’s not something I explain any better. Ben revived her. Then Ben died and again this place… gap curved around them. It was like the Force itself couldn’t move between them. Obi Wan! I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He ran a hand though his hair, “They deserved the chance to be happy. So, I took the opportunity, I could see how it worked, see how the dyad bond manipulated space and time to keep them together and I reached for it, pushed it back to the earliest complete connection and let it go.”

“Only you, Anakin, would think that was a good idea.”

“It _is_ a good idea.”

Obi Wan nodded slowly, “The others don’t agree.”

“I don’t particularly care what the others think. I know who they’re really fighting.”

“Who?”

“Sidious.”

Obi Wan stumbled back, “No!”

“Yes.” Anakin nodded earnestly, “He’s what’s waiting for them on Exegol. He survived, somehow. Cloning, if I had to guess.”

“How did we not know?”

“Because the Sith are good at hiding.” He shrugged, “Although, I’m not sure Sidious is a Sith anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“At Exegol, he didn’t feel Dark. He felt… corrupt. Wrong… unnatural.”

“Isn’t that what the Dark is?”

Anakin frowned at him, “No, the Dark is as natural as the light. They’re two sides of the same coin. This was a different thing altogether. There is no balance in Sidious, not anymore.”

“There is no balance in the Dark.” Obi Wan said primly.

Anakin snorted, “That’s bullshit.”

“Anakin…”

“No, Obi Wan. I never found the damned balance in the Light. Even following you to it, over and over again, it never felt like _balance_. You led me to a point; and it was a point of peace, but it wasn’t balance. It was like standing in a cave, sheltering from a sandstorm. I could see the storm, hear the winds. A few grains of sand would still scour my skin, but I was _hidden_ from the worst of it. That’s what the Jedi thought was balance. _Hiding_.”

Obi Wan opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. In his mind, he ran over every time Anakin has followed his meditation and still not been able to find peace in the Light. But then, Anakin was vastly more sensitive to the Force then he was… “Still the Dark…”

He gave him a pointed look, cutting him off, “I know the Dark.”

“Anakin…” his voice breaking.

“Leave it, Obi Wan.”

The older man let out a heartbroken sigh; but nodded. Anakin accepted that with relief. Nothing could change the Order’s failure to protect him and looking back the entire thing was so… blindingly obvious. He had never had a chance, because the adults who _should_ have protected him, saved him, were the ones who threw him to the wolf in the name of political leverage. The revenge he never sought, never wanted had destroyed them and everything they stood for. There was nothing left to say on it.

They stared at each other in silence.

“Hiding here, you are? Hmmm?”

“Master Yoda” Obi Wan greeted, but Anakin said nothing, simply nodding.

“Nothing to say, young Skywalker?”

Anakin watched as the small Jedi Master walked over to the reflecting pool, sitting down beside it. He patted the spot beside him. Anakin shared a look with Obi Wan and they joined him.

Yoda stared at the Prime Jedi, staring placidly back at them from beneath the water.

“Wrong, we were. Wrong about you. Wrong about Sidious. Admitted this to you, we should have.”

“Master…” Obi Wan interrupted, but a clawed green hand rose to stop him.

“Listen, you must.” Anakin met Yoda’s eyes and nodded slowly, settling himself more comfortably on the ledge. As was the way with Force Ghosts, Yoda’s image had shifted younger as he spoke, “Balance is the nature of the Force. The Jedi, from the path of Balance have strayed and onto the path of Light have moved. So Light rises and Darkness to meet it.”

Anakin glanced down as Yoda tapped his chest with his walking stick, “Balance you brought as prophesised. Failed you, all of us did. Only for the Light, did we look so didn’t see _you_. _I_ did not see you. Sorry, I am, to you and to Padme. Sorry, also for Luke. Wrong we were, to send him after you and wrong to keep you from Ben, we were. Stopped him going to Snoke, you might have.”

“Where has this come from?” Anakin asked, barely keeping the suspicion out of his voice.

“Leia.” Yoda nodded slowly, “Made our choices, has she. You, Luke, Ben. Same choices. Same consequences. Same _mistakes_.”

Obi Wan sighed and looked away from them, avoiding Anakin’s eyes before saying, “Master Yoda, many of the other masters are… opposed to the dyad. They say it was made to perpetuate a lie.” He voice was careful.

Anakin blinked at him in surprise, “They’re saying what? How?”

He got a shrug from the older man, but Yoda nodded before saying,

“Steeped too much in Light, many are. The balance is in the Light, they believe. Stronger then the Dark, they believe it to be. Proves them wrong, a dyad does, so a Sith lie, they say.”

“Luke isn’t going to like that.” Obi Wan said, thinking back to his lessons with the twins.

“A lie it is not.” Yoda agreed, “Fix this we must.”

Anakin hummed in agreement and tuned his attention to the sky. He was fading fast, still exhausted from the ordeal.

Yoda rested a hand on his knee, “Rest, young Skywalker. Time to fix this, we have.”

Anakin nodded and put his hand over Yoda’s, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too.” He faded back into the Force.

###  Finn

The Falcon settled easily into the snow on the outskirts of the Kijimi City. Finn looked out over the mountain and wondered again where the ‘Holy City’ was. He and Gina had already poured over all the information on the ‘net with no success. Asking Master Skywalker hadn’t been an option since he’d locked himself in a cabin to ‘meditate’. Han and Chewie didn’t seem bothered by his behaviour but Finn… Finn had felt off since the talk the first night. Gina had been quiet. Everything they thought they knew about the Jedi had just been upended… again.

The bangs from the loading ramp as it was lowered broke him from his contemplation and he had only stood up when Gina, dressed in insulated slacks and a heavy jacket, came around the corner and tossed a pile of fabric to him.

“Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

He pulled the layers on over his clothing as she fidgeted beside him. Neither broached it. They didn’t have that kind of relationship, not yet, but Finn _ached_ for it. He licked his lips and broke the silence, “What do you think?”

“About?” Gina focused on him.

_Skywalker,_ he wanted to say. “The Holy City” he said instead.

She shrugged, “Master Skywalker is pretty sure it’s here. There’s no record of it, so… Maybe it’s a Force thing?”

“Maybe.”

“Come on, you two!” Han yelled from somewhere behind them. With a quick nod and shrug, they headed towards the ramp, meeting an equally wrapped up Han and Master Skywalker and a very unwrapped up Chewie.

“Where to now?” Finn asked, looking around as they started walking.

“The Thieves’ Quarter.” Skywalker said, straight-faced, “To give Han and Chewie a taste of home.” 

“That so?” Han drawled out, glancing at him.

He grinned back, mischief in his eyes, “Before it was the Thieves’ Quarter, it was the Quarter of the Beatific, home to the Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance until they got run out by the criminals. There aren’t many of them left here, and I’d like to avoid them if we can.”

“Why?” Gina asked before Finn could.

“Because they’re Lorrdians and I’m out of practice reading their body language.” Skywalker shrugged, “I also don’t want to get invited to a debate with the High Priest. We’ll be here for a week. This way.” He nodded to an alley.

“The bit he forgot to mention is the ‘criminals’ are spice runners. So be careful.” Han added drily as he followed his brother in law.

Chewie growled and Han nodded, “Yeah, and the First Order has a presence here. Not much of one but keep an eye out.”

Finn and Gina flinched and walked a little closer to the others. Finn absently rubbed his arms, pushing down the fear that threatened to overwhelm him. He didn’t want to think about what happened to deserters in the First Order. He also couldn’t stop himself.

He felt it before he seen it anything, like cool water running over him on a hot day. Or a hot shower right about now. It brushed against his senses, seductive and willing, tempting him closer. Beside him Gina tensed, and Skywalker slowed down, pointing to a half-hidden archway. Han and Chewie glanced around and then led the way inside.

It was a small courtyard, but the Jedi Master didn’t hesitate as he walked over to the opposite wall and began to scan the brickwork, “Before the Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance arrived, this area was part of the Dai Bandu monastery complex. There were a lot of religions and temples, dedicated to different churches of the Force drawn here, like the Brotherhood, by the presence of the Monastery. Artifact hunters, archaeologists and historians called this area the Holy City, although it was never officially named that. Anyway, the Dai Bandu were the first and founded Kijimi City.”

“I’ve never heard of them.” Finn said, turning slowly trying to track down where the feeling was coming from.

“Not many have. The Dai Bandu were one of the precursors to the Jedi Order as we know it, learning and training with the Force, but it was thousands of years ago. Ah, here it is!”

“What were the other ones?” Gina asked curiously.

“The Followers of Palawa, the Chatos Academy and the Je’Daii are the most often cited.” He replied as he pressed something and the wall in front of him retracted back with a loud scrape and rumble of machinery. 

Skywalker smiled sadly, “Lor San Tekka told me about this place years ago. I always meant to visit but…” he shrugged, indicating there were a lot of ‘buts’.

Finn’s immediate attention was drawn to the doorway and the cold-hot feeling that had just increased a thousandfold. He pushed down the memories of Kylo Ren and Lor San Tekka in favour of focusing on it. It felt a lot like Gina described the pit on Ahch To.

They stepped inside. Han and chewie pulled out torches and clicked them on. Finn still jumped when the wall closed behind them. Licking suddenly dry lips, he followed the others into the darkness.

Finn could feel Gina mulling over something in the Force, so he wasn’t surprised when she asked, “So they were all followers of the Light, like the Jedi?”

“No”, Skywalker replied, “That was a more recent realisation of the nature of the Force. The Je’daii and Dai Bandu believed in balance, remaining between Light and Dark. The Followers believed that the Force was one rather than made up of opposing forces. Since they went on to become the original Sith Lords, I think we can take it, they were wrong.”

“And the Chantas Academy?”

“Chatos. No one knows. There’s very little information about them is left. The Jedi took their hierarchy from them, but there’s no record of what else was preserved. Whether that was a Jedi decision or the Empire, I don’t know.”

Finn could still feel his sister’s thoughts rolling around her mind, jumping from place to place. His own weren’t much better, but they lapsed into silence as they followed Han and Skywalker further into the complex.

“Ah, here we are.” Skywalker’s voice cut through the silence, jerking Finn from his thoughts. He glanced around, noticing that the torchlight no longer reached the walls. Skywalker motioned for Han’s torch and the Finn watched Han give it over with reluctance. He threw it into the air, guiding it with the Force until, suddenly, the entire room filled with light.

“Mirrors!” Gina gasped, looking around the room.

The hall was enormous with two rows of columns holding a ceiling, still lost in shadows, above them. Finn could just make out more corridors leading off in different directions. Each of those columns had a mirror on it, each one angled to shine light onto the floor. Skywalker gently lowered the torch into a little pot hanging from the shadows and they made their way across the floor. There was a circular space at one end of the hall, where the light seemed brightest and Skywalker made a beeline for it, the rest following. An eight-pointed star, made of four lines crossing in the centre was carved into the floor, each point tipped by a symbol. Skywalker pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and flattened it out. Same shape, if more crudely drawn, and the same symbols but in different places. At the thought, Master Skywalker glanced over at him, a small smile tugging his lips, “I would be the first to admit art is not my forte, but to be fair, I was copying from rock carvings.”

Fun flushed as Gina sniggered.

Chewie had paced halfway round the circle and his sudden roar caught their attention.

“It means what?” Gina yelped in surprise and Finn was irritated to realise she had begun to pick up a smattering of Shyriiwook.

“In can’t follow all of that.” She shook her head helplessly, looking at Han. Luke looked equally confused.

“It’s Xaczik.” Han said, “Or not… Slow down, Big Guy!”

He let Chewie go on for a few moments, making his way over to look at the symbols.

He looked dubiously at the floor, “Lets see if I get this right. Xaczik uses a written language from another world. That language has these symbols.”

Chewie roared something else.

“It’s not letters, it’s pictures… Tython? That’s a myth!”

“Wait” Luke snapped, “What about Tython?”

Han looked at him for a moment, then back to Chewie who growled out an answer. Finn and Gina just stared.

“Travellers from Tython taught Wookiee’s Xaczik or wrote it down anyway. This is their alphabet. The language is mostly ritual now and he doesn’t know all of the words.” Han pointed to where Chewie was standing, “That one means passion… kinda.”

“Passion?” Skywalker’s voice was Tatooine dry.

“Not that kind of passion.”

Chewie growled at him and Han listened for a moment more. Tingles ran up and down Finn’s arms and spine. He _knew_ this was important. That all this Force… stuff would start to make sense if they could just understand this.

“Okay, that kind of passion too, but passion like caring, being invested, being part of something, believing in something… Passion like… faith?”

Chewie roared in agreement.

_Faith_

Chewie pointed a shaggy paw at the next one and growled again.

“That one means… movement? Action? These words don’t translate very well, Chewie.”

“They’re concepts, not words.” Finn breathed out in understanding and Chewie purred agreement before pointed to the next one.

“Control.” Han translated, more confidently this time.

Chewie moaned at the next one and Han sighed, “He doesn’t recognise that one.”

In the end Chewie knew five of the eight symbols. Gina stood in the middle of the intersecting lines and pointed to the first one, “Passion” she followed the line with her finger to the opposite end, “Apathy.” She pointed to the next symbol over, “Stillness,” and followed the line again till she continued “and movement.” 

Pointing at the last one they knew, “Control.” Pointing to the other end, “What’s the opposite of control? Uncontrolled? Wild?”

“Free?” Finn suggested, looking at the others for support.

Han looked bored. Chewie was still contemplating the remaining symbols. Skywalker tapped his chin with a finger, “Maybe. That would make the last two Light and Dark.” He frowned at the layout, “But that makes no sense. Why would Passion be on the same side as freedom? The Light dark divide should be between them.”

He shared a look with Gina before asking, “What do you mean?”

“Passion is of the Darkside, but to serve the Dark is to be it’s slave. There’s no freedom in the Darkness, so why would Passion and Freedom be aligned?” He trailed off again, “I think we need to know what the other runes mean.”

Chewie roared and Han frowned, “Seriously? No… why…”

Chewie growled a negative back. Finn got that much even if he couldn’t understand the words.

“Tython isn’t safe for non-Force sensitives” Skywalker said.

Han eyed him, No.”

“Han…”

“No.”

“We don’t have a choice. I… _we_ need to get to Tython and it’s not safe. Ky…Ben is the only option.”

“And you think he’ll take you?”

“I think… I think I have to ask. The entire planet is reactive to the Force, Han. You won’t be able to control your influence on the world. It won’t be safe.”

“You can _ask_ ” Han emphasized the word, “but when he says no, you leave it. Understood?”

Skywalker nodded and held out his hand to call the torch back down.

“Let’s get moving then.”

They were almost back the ship when the first blaster bolt hit the wall beside Finn. He jumped back with a yelp. Gina spun to see a unit of Stormtroopers in the alley behind them. Skywalker stepped past him and threw up his hand. Half the trooper flew backwards off their feet and Skywalker’s lightsaber lit up in his hand, blocking the next wave of blaster fire. Some of the bolts flew back towards the troopers who jumped out of the way.

“I’m out of practise.” Skywalker grumped. 

Han snorted, “Yeah, now come on, run farmboy!”

They ran.

Finn had to admit, the memories of Kylo Ren still fresh on his mind, that Master Skywalker really _was_ out of practise.

They darted down another alleyway and across an intersection, avoiding another unit as they did so. The _Falcon_ was just up ahead. Pouring out onto the landing bay, they dove behind some crates before they were spotted. Two guards stood the feet of the ship. Chewie sighted along his bowcaster, moaning when he couldn’t get both guards into the same shot without risking the ship.

“Well,” Han snarked, “This brings back memories.”

“Vader isn’t here this time.” Skywalker replied mildly, “And we’re not on the Death Star.” He paused a moment before continuing in the same tone of voice, “And Leia hasn’t just dragged us through a trash compactor.”

Han snorted, but for some reason Finn couldn’t fathom, the man had relaxed.

“Can you…” he waved his hand in a vaguely suggestive fashion.

Master Skywalker sighed, “We need to work out better hand signals for using the Force.”

“What’s wrong with?” Han made the gesture again.

“It’s profane in about sixty cultures.” 

Finn had never heard a wookiee giggle. It was kinda nice.

Master Luke peeped over the crates again and then flicked his fingers at a door on the far side of the _Falcon_. The door opened with a creak and the light inside turned on. The troopers turned to look. One of them stepped away from the ship and went to investigate. He paused in the doorway and Master Luke made the motion again. The Trooper flew forwards crashing into something in the office. Their teammate ran to help them.

They were up and running the second Master Luke knocked the second trooper into the room.

The ramp came down and they were scrambling up it when the troopers started shooting. Master Luke flicked his saber up again, deflecting the bolts and this time managed to send them back at the troopers. They dove back into the room and the _Falcon’s_ ramp slammed into place with a roar from Chewie. Han was already pressing buttons in the cockpit. Finn took the passenger seat as Gina threw herself onto the co-pilots chair. Basic flight training had been offered to her unit, so she had some idea what to do. Finn was still gutted about that. The ship jerked into the air and Han pulled it up almost vertical as they shot up into the atmosphere. 

Finn sighed with relief as he watched the starlight stream around them, the familiar image of hyperspace calming fight-triggered nerves. Chewie and Master Luke stood beside him for a moment before Gina willingly left the co-pilot seat to Chewie. He took it was a happy moan, flicking a switch Finn hasn’t even noticed was lit.

A voice filled the cockpit. Finn didn’t recognise it, but he and Gina were the only ones, “Han, Chewie, hell, I hope you get this. The First Order has Leia. She’s on the _Supremacy_ in the Crait system…”

Finn didn’t hear the rest of the message, drowning in Skywalker’s terror.

###  Armitage Hux

Hux took in the scene, himself and Ushar Ren to either side of the throne where the Supreme Leader sat. Evenly spaced around the walls, the Praetorian Guard stood, half obscured against the red walls in their red armour. It was impressive, even if Ushar Ren lacked Kylo Ren’s presence. And if the war club he rested his hands on wasn’t exactly giving the image of elegant control the Supreme Leader Snoke preferred, at least it was jarring enough to cause worry.

The Throne Room doors opened, and Leia Organa was led in flanked on one side by the captain of the _Ninka_ and on the other by Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. Hux forced his hands to stay loose by his sides, he had known he recognised her. He did nothing to stop the smug grin on his face. Holdo and Murtagh did their best to remain expressionless, but Organa smirked right back at him. It was such a _Kylo_ thing to do.

“General Organa, Vice Admiral Holdo, I trust you’ve enjoyed my hospitality?” the Supreme Leader asked lazily.

“I can’t say it’s up to Alderaan standard, but it will suffice for a military vessel.” Organa replied just as indolently. He could have been mistaken (he didn’t think he was) but Holdo might just have kicked Organa in the ankle.

“And you are?” Snoke turned his attention to the last prisoner.

“Cap…Cap… Captain Ruso Murtagh.” He stammered, a sheen of sweat visible on his orange-skinned face.

“Captain of what?”

Somehow, the Supreme Leader managed to sound _interested_. The good captain as completely flatfooted.

“Of… of the _Ninka_ , sir.” He glanced at the two women after adding the honorific. Holdo nodded slightly. Organa didn’t look away from Snoke.

“A good captain should go down with his ship, don’t you think?” Snoke purred.

“S…sir?”

But Ushar was already moving. His club swung, catching Murtagh’s head between two of his horns. 

Hux swallowing hard as blood and skull and _brains_ splatter everywhere. He wanted to smile as Organa flinched and closed her eyes, her face suddenly pale as blood and _stuff_ dripped down her cheek, but he was too busy regretting lunch.

“I’m sure our hospitality can be improved.” Snoke drawled, utterly unfazed as Ushar moved back to his position.

“I’m sure it can be.” Organa agreed tightly, her earlier cavalier attitude gone.

“Where is my wayward apprentice?”

“I have absolutely no idea.” She had the audacity to smirk, “In case you hadn’t realised, we’re estranged.”

“But he contacted you after his… defection.”

“Yes, he traded information for a pardon.” Organa shrugged. They could have been talking about the weather. Despite himself, Hux was impressed. 

“I passed the message onto Fleet Command and they decided to make the deal.”

Snoke’s long fingers tapped silently against the arm of his throne, “And how did you vote, General?”

“For it, of course,” shrugging her shoulders, she continued nonchalantly, “We needed the information on Starkiller. He was willing to provide it.” 

Snoke didn’t respond.

It took Hux a minute to realise they were having a staring contest. From Holdo’s slightly wide-eyed look, she was equally as baffled. Ushar shifted slightly, clearly bored but it was impossible to see his expression behind the mask. Plus, he was a Force-user too. Maybe this kind of behaviour was normal for them. Sighing internally at the childishness, Hux resisted the urge to run his hand through his hair and instead clasped his wrists behind his back.

Organa collapsed to her knees with a small shriek, dropping forward as she panted for breath. Snoke slouched back on his throne, “Interesting. I should thank you for that, General. You and your brother made seducing him to the Darkside so easy.”

“And yet, he still escaped you.” Organa hissed, pushing herself slowly back to her feet, “He returned to the Light.”

Snoke watched her, amusement on his face, but he burst into surprised laughter at that. Ushar tilted his head, his attention completely focused on the woman for the first time.

Organa was clearly surprised.

“Your son hasn’t given up the title of Master of the Knights of Ren, General Organa. In fact, he started the initiation a new Knight since leaving me. He is still in the Shadow’s Embrace.”

It was interesting to watch Organa’s face close off, a wall coming down over her emotions. Idly, Hux wondered if her son could do that too, or if that was why he wore a mask.

“Ushar?” Snoke purred.

The masked warrior straightened, “Paska Ren. She walks in the Shadow and claims the death of her grandfather as her ‘good death’. She fought Cardo Ren at Starkiller Base and Kuruk on Kef Bir. I assume she will fight Ap’lek there as well. Once she has fought all of us, and we acknowledge her, she will be a Knight.”

Hux fought not to show surprise. That was more information on the Knights then he had ever got before. It also suggested taking over leadership wouldn’t be as easy as he thought.

“He hasn’t escaped me, General Organa. In fact, he is on his way back to me now. He will never escape me, no matter how far he runs. He is _mine_.”

“You’re insane. There’s no way he’ll come back to you.”

“Of course, he will. I have you and if the only way to save you is to trade himself, then he will do it.”

Organa was frozen, her face terrifyingly blank as if she didn’t know what to feel.

“For all that you threw him away, for all the broken promises and forgotten pledges, he still loves you and love is the strongest collar there is, General. As long as I have you, I have Kylo Ren.”

“No…” she whispered, the broken sound a far cry from her earlier haughty manner.

Snoke laughed again, “Right now he is with two of the Knights, Kuruk and Ap’lek, traitors both of them.” His smile was full of cruelty as he sneered the names, “We let them run to him, thinking that they had got away. They will tell him I have you.”

He leaned forward, “He will come for you, and I will get him, the traitor Knights and this _Paska Ren_ as well.” He reached a hand towards her and Organa rose a metre into the air, “And until then, you will tell me everything.”

Organa began to scream. Hux kept his face impassive and watched Holdo pale. If he watched her, he didn’t have to watch the bits of skull and _other things_ falling from Organa’s hair as she shook in the Supreme Leader’s hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think about it until after I wrote Captain Murtagh as an Elomin, but now I can't get ride of the image of someone getting caught trying to compare Hux's hair to Murtagh's skin colour...
> 
> Thanks for the comments and kudos. It's nice to know people are enjoying this


	6. Facing Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not the chapter you are looking for...
> 
> Seriously, I'm struggling with this chapter. I've even decided to break it into 2 because I can't get it to work
> 
> So, with that in mind, here is the first part of chapter 6. I'll update it to the full thing when I wrangle it into place

###  Rey/Paska

They didn’t bother replacing their helmets on their way back to the impromptu landing pad. The two Knights were waiting for them, bleeding terror into the Force in a way that set Paska’s teeth on edge and sent a shiver of fear down her back. Kylo paused beside her as it washed over their senses, the bond tightening between them as he reached mentally to brace against her. 

“What’s happened?” Kylo asked and she felt their fear spike.

“We received an update… from Usher.” Kuruk’s voice was calm, even if the Force around him was not.

“He’s still on the Supremacy?” she asked when he said nothing else, fighting the need to fidget.

He nodded slowly, eyeing escape routes, “He is. They’ve… they’ve captured a Resistance ship, the _Ninka_.”

Kylo began walking towards them again, “Amilyn Holdo’s ship?” She vaguely recognised the name… the admiral who rammed _the_ _Supremacy_ at lightspeed? Hadn’t she commanded the _Raddus_ though?

Something about Kuruk and Ap’lek’s stances dragged her attention back the moment. This was too much emotion for a random Resistance admiral and the two Knights were doing everything short of shoving each other forward to avoid explaining. She could feel Kylo losing patience. Kuruk broke first and even then the words were slow, but they came, “General Organa was on board.”

Kylo froze. Paska made a small noise in the back of the throat.

“What else did Ushar say?” Kylo’s voice was deceptively calm.

“The Supreme Leader wants you to return and all will be forgiven. He is willing to offer Organa’s life as proof.”

“He’ll just… let her go?” Paska voice was beyond sceptical.

Ap’lek snorted and Kuruk shook his head, “I doubt it. He’ll keep her… safe… as a guarantee of Kylo’s behaviour, but I don’t think he meant ‘let her leave the ship’ when he said it.”

Kylo turned around, strode back the wall behind them and pulled his lightsaber, flicking it on.

The Knights hissed as the purple blade flashed into existence. With almost methodical precision, he cut a large chunk of the Death Star’s plating into smaller and smaller pieces. Paska simply watched him, waiting for him to work through the rage and terror.

It was only a few minutes before the blade disappeared again and he turned to face them, “I doubt ‘all will be forgiven’ either.”

The Knights shrugged.

“But you are going.” Paska was certain as she met his eyes.

He hissed in a breath, “She’s my mother.”

“We need a plan then. Snoke will expect something.”

“We do.” He looked at the Knights, “I won’t order you to come, but your help would be welcome.”

They shared a look, then Kuruk shrugged, "I'm in.”

Ap'lek nodded agreement.

“Lets go, then”, Kylo said, stalking towards the ships. 

"We had better slave the _Cloud_ to the _Buzzard"_ Kuruk said as the followed him.

Paska hummed in agreement, her throughts on the original confrontation with Snoke and how they won. That wouldn't be an option this time.

“Are you going to explain the plan now?” Paska asked a while later, aggravation clear in her voice as she dropped into the seat across the table from where Kylo was assembling… something. She thought it looked kind of like his old, red lightsaber.

“You remember I said things were happening the same way?”

“Yeah.”

“This feels like another one. I think, if we set up the confrontation with Snoke the same way it went, then he’ll follow the script.”

“He’ll demand you kill me?”

“No, I think he’ll demand I kill Leia. How is the slave going?” 

She grunted, “It’s set up. Kuruk knows how to pilot with a slaved ship attached.”

Curious, Paska reached over the grabbed the hilt he had constructed, turning it in her hands. “What’s this for?” She flicked it on, but nothing happened.

Kylo shurgged, looking at it, “It seemed like a good idea. We land. Most likely Hux or whoever will have been instructed to bring me straight to Snoke.”

He paused as Kuruk and Ap’lek appeared and took seats beside them.

“Do you think we’ll be brought in with you?” He asked them

Kuruk shook his head, “I don’t know if Snoke suspects us, but even if he does, we won’t be a priority.” He nodded across the table, “Kylo will be. Possibly you, Paska.”

She could only nod in agreement.

"We'll probably be ignored until after he's dealt with you."

Kylo nodded, “So we go. Hux and Usher will most likely escort us to Snoke.” He nodded to Kuruk and Ap’lek. “Your job is to find out where the rest of the crew are being held. If you can get them out, all the better, but find them and figure out what we need to get them off at least.”

He didn’t have to say it out loud, Paska could hear it through the bond, he doubted many were still alive. He met her eyes.

“Paska and I will deal with Snoke.”

“We’re going to…” She trailed off, not nearly as sure as Kylo this would work. Of course, she had noticed the similarities as well. Jakku, the attack on Takadona and the Resistance showing up. Han on Starkiller. Even the Resistance being caught at Crait. The same events, following the same course and yes, she had noticed that it was _them_ who changed the outcome. It was their actions that made things different, but going up against Snoke and banking on him making that same mistake again…

“Maybe I can help?” a voice said.


End file.
